Characteristics of A True Christian – 1 John

A message given to our youth from Iglesia El Camino on the chracteristics of a true Christian.

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My Testimony – Age 16

This was a long time ago! I turn 41 today! It’s good to hear oneself, especially something so long ago to be reminded of our growth. So here is what I shared with the youth at Iglesia El Buen Pastor when I was 16. You will see at the end of the “live” testimony, I added something a few years later (I think), that sounds quite cheesy but nevertheless, that was then.

In Spanish, sorry English only speakers.

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Disclaimer: The contents of all personal web pages and blogs published are solely my responsibility.
Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not
of any organization, church, or school.

Material is copyright by eigaldamez. Permission is given
to re-post or reproduce without editing the content.

Disclaimer:
The contents of all personal web pages and blogs published are solely my responsibility.
Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not of any organization, church, or school.

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El Crecimiento Espiritual

Este estudio fué dado a nuestro grupo de jovenes de la Iglesia El Buen Pastor en el año 1999. La grabación se corta un poco al final.

source: morgue file
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El Cielo – Parte Dos (Sermones Clásicos)

Lo Que La Biblia Dice Del Cielo – Parte Dos

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El Cielo – Primera Parte (Sermones Clásicos)

Lo que enseña la Biblia sobre El Cielo. Un mensaje que predique alrededor del año 1999.

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¿Chistoso verdad?

“Chistoso, ¿verdad?”

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Lo mucho que es $20 cuando se da en la Iglesia y tan poco cuando estamos en la tienda.

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Lo mucho que es una hora sirviendo a Dios, y lo poco que es cuando estamos jugando fútbol u otro deporte favorito.

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Cuan difícil es leer un capítulo de la Biblia pero fácil leer o mirar una novela.

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Como creemos lo que los periódicos dicen pero dudamos lo que dice la Biblia.

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Cuando no podemos pensar que decirle a Dios cuando oramos pero no tenemos dificultad en pensar en cosas para hablar con nuestros amigos o novia o novio.

Chistoso, ¿verdad? – Como necesitamos 2-3 semanas para poner en nuestro calendario un evento de la Iglesia pero podemos ajustarlo para un evento social de último momento.
Chistoso, ¿verdad?

Ni tan chistoso pero es la realidad en muchos de nosotros.

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How Young People Can Change Their Culture

A Message for our young people during our “Youth Expo”

This short message will focus on how young people can change the culture they live in. The way I am defining culture is the environment young people live, which includes what they see and hear through all sources of media. It also involves the values reflected on popular culture, which includes their actions and beliefs.  I want to share some demographics that focus on the Hispanic culture since most of you here are Hispanics. It is important to know this so we can see the influence we can have where we live now.
In 2010 there were 50.5 million Hispanics in the US, 16.3 of the total population. We grew 9.3% since 2000. We are fastest growing minority in the US.  The average age is 27 years. 16 million of these are under the age of 18. Their dominant language is English.
All of these statistics show us that as young Christians we have a mandate to reach out to these young people for Christ.  YOU here are the key.
But you can’t reach them if you don’t show them a better way. The Way of the Gospel.  You can’t change the culture by exterior forces or even political involvement. Change can only come when you are changed by Christ and share the change through your life. Before I tell you how this is possible, let me compare and contrast what the culture says vs. what God says as to how you ought to live. Listen. If you find yourself agreeing with the culture then you have been captured by its deceitful charm.
Scripture says that the world with its culture is under the influence and management of Satan:
1 John 2:16-17:  For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. ESV
1 John 5:19:  We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. – HCSB
1. The culture says: “In the end, all roads lead to the same path as long as you are sincere.”
     – Jesus says: Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” ESV
– John 14:5-6:  “Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? 6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ESV
2.  The culture says: “You can be religious but you don’t have to be a fanatic.”
     – Jesus said: Matthew 10:37-39:  The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. 39 Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it. – HCSB
    – God said (through Paul): Philippians 3:7-8:  “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” ESV
3. The culture says:  “We are sexual beings, there’s nothing wrong about exploring everything as  long as you have love and share the benefits.”
     – God says: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” ESV
4. The culture says: “Be like us, dress like, act like us, speak like us…lol, fml…there is nothing
    wrong with that.”
    – God says:  Romans 12:1-2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” ESV
We can go on and on. How can you be a culture changing Agent? 2 Corinthians 5:14-21:
1. Believe that Christ died for your sins to save you from the judgment of God and so that you no longer live for yourself. v. 14-15,17
    – Two types of people, those who say to God “Your will be done” and those who one day will  hear from God “Your will be done” and go into everlasting punishment.
    – Jesus can save you from your worst enemy: You!
2. Live for and in Christ each day not just sundays. v. 15 “might no longer live for themselves…” v. 16, 21 Each day ask yourself, “Who am living for today? I am living for Christ not for me.”
There are no Jekyls and Hydes in Christ. You live in Him and He lives in you and through you.
3. Be an ambassador for Christ v. 18-20
You represent Christ on Earth wherever you are. You speak His words and Good News. You do it with urgency. People know who you are and who you represent. There are no secret
agents.
Three examples of Christ followers who lived faithfully till the end that should motivate you to live each day for Christ. One lived a long life, the other two a short life. All lived and died for Him.
From the past:  
St. Polycarp (69-155), a disciple of John the Apostle, Polycarp was burned at the stake for refusing to burn incense to the Roman Emperor and  refusing to curse Christ. “Eighty and six years I have served him, How then can I blaspheme  my King and Saviour? Bring forth what thou wilt.” It is said that because the flames didn’t affect him, he was stabbed to death.
From the present:
Cassie Bernall, 1981-1999 (17 years old) & Rachel Scott, “Rachel’s Tears”
The Columbine Massacre happened on April 20, 1999
Read a poem found on Cassie’s website and see memorial service here
Reading Suggestions:
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The contents of all personal web pages and blogs published are solely my responsibility.
Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not of any organization, church, or school.

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Matando los Fantasmas en el Matrimonio (Aplica a personas Solteras)

Anoche miraba un programa dónde los casados presentan sus problemas ante un pánel de tres personas para ver quien tiene la razón. Me hizo recordar este pasaje:

“Atrapadnos las zorras, las zorras pequeñas, que echan a perder las viñas, pues nuestras viñas están en flor.” Cantar de los Cantares 2:15

Los fantasmas son ilusiones. Lo que creemos o queremos que sea nuestro cónyuge. A esto muchas veces le llamamos el “ideal” que deseamos (aunque ya es muy tarde). Pedimos a Dios que lo convierta en esa persona ideal. Esperamos que en cualquier momento sucederá.

Son éstas “zorras pequeñas” que causan más problemas en nuestro matrimonio.

Una mujer describe su fantasma así:

– Se levanta temprano, tiene su devociones con su Biblia abierta, tiene su
tiempo de oración, sale a correr por siete millas.
– Después del desayuno con su familia tiene su devociones familiar por 15
min.
– Nunca se olvida de darle un abrazo, o un beso de despedida, el siempre
llega temprano a su trabajo.
– Es muy paciente con sus hijos y siempre está allí para ayudarles en todo.
– Siempre llega a tiempo a casa y tiene tiempo para jugar con sus hijos y
hablar con su esposa.
– Esta muy bien informado del mundo, los eventos políticos, religiosos y
sociales.
– Nunca se desanima. Persevera en todas las circunstancias.
– Es un diccionario en las palabras románticas y lleva a su esposa a cenar
una vez por semana.
– Entiende lo que su esposa quiere decir sin que ella tenga que hablar.
– Puede citar cualquier cita del Antiguo o Nuevo Testamento.
– Es el líder
– Merece estar en el cielo y no aquí.

Un hombre describe su fantasma así:

– Es la ama de casa.
– Es amorosa, paciente y bondadosa y nunca se niega a nada.
– Su casa está siempre bien ordenada y sus hijos la obedecen a la primera
vez que les habla.
– Tiene multi-personalidades: seria pero divertida, sumisa pero no pasiva,
energética pero nunca se cansa.
– Siempre está muy atractiva y bien vestida.
– Tiene un figura perfecta.
– Nunca se enferma, se desanima o se siente sola.
– Lee su Biblia, ora y comparte su fe todo el tiempo.
– Sabe dónde está todo lo que se pierde en la casa.
– Siempre recibe bien a su esposo cuando llega tarde a casa.
– No se queja de lo que tiene sino que siempre da gracias porque su familia
es la ideal.

Estos son ideales irreales. Fantasmas.

¿Cómo matarlos?

1. Reconoce que no hay una persona “ideal” o “perfecta” que te pueda hacer 100% feliz o que supla todas tus necesidades, sólo Dios.

– Salmo 62:5 Oh alma mía, reposa sólo en Dios, porque de él es mi
esperanza.
– Salmo 73:25 ¿A quién tengo yo en los cielos? Aparte de ti nada deseo en la tierra.

2. Acepta a tu cónyuge como la persona que Dios te dio y deja de tratar de hacerla(o) a tu imagen.

-Salmo 127:1-2: Si Jehovah no edifica la casa, en vano trabajan los que la edifican. Si Jehovah no guarda la ciudad, en vano vigila el guardia.
En vano os levantáis de madrugada y os vais tarde a reposar, comiendo el pan con dolor; porque a su amado dará Dios el sueño.

3. Deja que Dios haga en el/ella la persona que El quiere para ti.

4. Ora por el/ella cada día. ¡Muy importante! Debemos orar que Dios haga en ellos SU voluntad y no la nuestra.

– Filipenses 4:6. Por nada estéis afanosos; más bien, presentad vuestras peticiones delante de Dios en toda oración y ruego, con acción de gracias.

5. Confía en Dios.

– Salmo 130:5 Yo espero en Jehovah; mi alma espera. En su palabra he puesto mi esperanza.
– Isaías 41:10: No temas, porque yo estoy contigo. No tengas miedo, porque yo soy tu Dios. Te fortaleceré, y también te ayudaré. También te sustentaré con la diestra de mi justicia.’

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Material is copyright by eigaldamez. Permission is given
to re-post or reproduce without editing the content.

Disclaimer:
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Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not of any organization, church, or school.

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A Short Summary of A Future For The Latino Church

Recently I began to think and pray upon the possibility of planting a new church. A church for Hispanics whose most dominant language is English.  I grew up in a Spanish speaking church and consider myself a second generation Hispanic.  I am bicultural and biliterate. But as the years have passed I notice that I don’t fit completely in either a Hispanic church with Spanish as the main language or an English speaking church with a predominantly homogenous group of people that are not Hispanic (I am what the author calls “living in the hyphen”). I must say, that I had not thought of this idea before, even though I have been reading about the changing demographics of Hispanics in the United States for a long time. So I stumbled upon the book by Daniel A. Rodriguez, A Future For the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations. The book offered case studies of two broad types of churches, “multigenerational Hispanic churches,” those that have Spanish and English ministries integrated in an Evangelical church and the “multiethnic, predominantly Hispanic churches,” which are the churches that have English as the dominant language in an Evangelical church.  There are ten churches that are part of this study in the former group and seven churches in the latter group.  Together with the case studies, the author discusses demographics,  acculturation, linguistic characteristics, and cultural distinctives of Hispanics that should have a profound effect on how the Church does ministry now and should do so in the coming years.  He challenges the Evangelical Hispanic Church to stop being monolingual and thinking that Spanish must be the only way to do ministry and think instead as missionaries whose calling is to establish multilingual, multigenerational, multiethnic, missional churches of all Peoples. He also advocates that Hispanic churches become holistic in ministry, meaning that the preaching of the Gospel must be presented in the context of the whole person not just the spiritual aspect.  Interestingly enough, the author notes that he is not the first to point out that the Hispanic church needs to do holistic ministry, but asserts that it was twenty years ago that Manuel Ortiz pointed this out, but little has taken place since then and our Hispanic population continues to struggle socially and economically (as well as spiritually).

The Church has not done its job emphasizing evangelism and social responsibility when doing ministry. He ends the book by advocating “organic seminary,” biblical training that arises from the local church, where the pastor is the professor and indigenous leaders are trained and tackling the challenge that is before the Hispanic Church. The Hispanic church needs to overcome “cultural and spiritual superiority” (thinking that only those churches that speak Spanish are superior), do “more than “English services and programming” (it must adapt to the Hispanic culture, especially in worship), preach and model a holistic Gospel and develop leaders for this “moment of transition” (the moment is now) and become “cross-cultural missionaries” (our mission is more than reaching Hispanics, we must go into the world).

Many of the ideas, principles were not new to me but it reaffirmed what I believe needs to happen in the Hispanic Evangelical church. It also gave me some church models to study and observe if the Lord opens the opportunity to start a new church.

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Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not of any organization, church, or school.

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Life For A Life, Yet Not Equal Trade

I was thinking how often we say “my life,” and found that it is pervasive. I found it very difficult to say life without using “my.” I tried saying “the life” but it sounded weird.
In the United States we believe in the “American Dream,” whatever it means depends on the individual. But it is rooted in the individual or individualism. We are told we can do anything, thus creating the idea that “our” life can be created or recreated to whatever we want it to be.
People, especially young people, spend all their efforts centered on “their” life. It’s all that matters. To have and live a good (viz. fun) life. They are not thinking what the purpose of “their” life is, what matters is seizing the moment.
But as Christians this is not the paradign we should follow. When you come to Christ you make a trade off. Your sinful life destined to eternal perdition was rescued (redeemed) by Christ on the cross (he took your place) and at that moment your old life was no more (1 Peter 1:18-19, Romans 6:6-8). You traded it for a new one (you were made a new creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17). This new “you” does not belong to you anymore (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). You can’t think of it as “your” life and you can’t live for yourself or your pleasures: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). This life is meant to be lived in Christ and for Christ, every moment, every day till you leave this planet. And it continues in eternity in fellowship with God. (Philippians 3:7-12)
Now that’s the trade. Yet, you got the better deal. By the grace of God.
So why is it so hard to live for Him?

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