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The mystery of

Happiness

The magazine that edifies your life evangelistic

February 2014 / Edition N° 721 / www.impactoevangelistico.net

LiteratureA warning signal for the Christians

TestimonyThe faith moves montains

Jesus showed us the path we have to take

LiteratureA warning signal for the Christians

TestimonyThe faith moves montains

WORLDWIDE MISSIONARY MOVEMENT

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION

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America • Europe • Oceanía • África • AsiaWORLDWIDE MISSIONARY MOVEMENT

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THE LORD gave Elijah this message for Ahab sta-ting that there will be no rain nor dew for some years. We know that the draught lasted for more

than three years in Israel. As the Lord used this prophet to announce the draught, He would use him again to make the rain return.

“Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the

brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt

drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee

there” (1 Kings 17: 3-4). The Lord ordered Elijah to hide in the brook Cherith to avoid Ahab’s pursuit, but also to teach him to trust God for his daily needs. “So he went and

did according unto the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17: 5). Elijah was an obedient, willing and respectful man, who knew that God’s voice and Word must not be contradicted or subordinated to anything, but obeyed and accepted per se. Elijah “went and did according unto the Word of the Lord”.

Maybe we obey as well, but we act in our own way and not in God’s way. We, as men of God, must not feel surprised by what He may do with us in a specific moment. But this is not what makes a man of God re-markable. It is his behavior and his actions what makes him remarkable; it is his simplicity, his maturity, his

Rev. Gustavo Martínez International President of W.M.M.

good sense to act in difficult and bad times, his will to obey and to hear God’s voice what makes him extraor-dinary. It is during harsh times when we know who is who. How does this person act during crisis? How does he acts during the time of trial, towards criticism, towards sorrow, at those situations when God simply seems to have disappeared? Does he remain calm? Does he know when to remain in silence? Is he careful? Does he gossip or try to make other people feel his own pain through mistrust, resentment, and his own inner emotions?

That is when we, as listeners and people, must eva-luate his path and development through time: how he acted towards glory and admiration; towards contempt and criticism; and when he passed through a desert. That is when we know the qualities of each prophet, preacher and man of God. Because when there is enjoy-ment, everything is good and we respond well, but we fail “when the brook dries up”. That is when we do evil, when we actually say who we are and how was our relations-hip with God, whom we believe in, and if this Word that we study is to apply it in our own lives, or to refuse it during harsh times. God bless you! u

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my Word… ” (1 Kings 17: 1-7).

EDITORIAL

When the brook dries up



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The World-Wide Missionary Movement, Inc. is a non-profit church with a vision to plant new churches in the United States of America and its territories, and also with a missionary vision to plant new churches wherever God opens new doors all over the World.

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February 2014 / Edition N° 721

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The Worldwide Missionary Movement is a religious non-profit organization duly registered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in the federal capital, Washington DC, with headquarters in both cities and in every state of the United States and other countries where we have established missionary Works.

n ImportantThe offerings and donations in cash, equipment, real estate and bequests by will, in the benefit of the Worldwide Missionary Movement, Inc.’s Work, are deductible from the income tax, and receipts issued by the WMM are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the Federal Government of the United States of America and of the Free Associated State of Puerto Rico.

n Visit our websiteObtain uplifting information about God’s Work and keep up with the latest news. A customized access from anywhere in the world: www.impactoevangelistico.net

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n Copyright © 2009Impacto EvangelisticMovimiento Misionero Mundial, Inc.(World-Wide Missionary Movement, Inc.)All content of this magazine and each subsequent edition are duly registered at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC USA. All rights reserved.Total or partial reproduction in any form and translation into other languages without prior permission of the Director are prohibited. Under international copyright agreements, they are crimes punishable by law.

n Doctrinal StatementThe Worldwide Missionary Movement adheres to the fundamental doctrines of Scripture, such as:

• The inspiration of the Holy Scriptures:2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21.

• The Adorable Godhead in Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:Matthew 3:16-17, 17: 1-5; 28:19, John 17: 5, 24, 26, 16:32, 14:16, 23, 18:5, 6, 2 Peter 1:17,18; Revelation 5.

• Salvation by Faith in Christ:Luke 24:47, John 3:16, Romans 10:13, Titus 2:11, 3:5-7.

• The New Birth:John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:23, 1 John 3:9.

• Justification by Faith:Romans 5:1, Titus 3:7.

• Water Baptism by Inmersion, as commanded by Christ:Matthew 28:19, Acts 8:36-39.

• The Baptism in the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation, speaking in tongues according to:

Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 8, 2:4.• Divine Healing:

Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:16, 17, Mark 16:18, James 5:14, 15.

• The Gifts of the Holy Spirit:1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

• The Fruits of the Holy Spirit:Galatians 5:22-26.

• Sanctification:1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15, 16, 1 John 2:6.

• Ministry and Evangelization:Mark 16:15-20, Romans 10:15.

• Tithing and Maintenance of the Work:Genesis 14:20, 28:22, Leviticus 27:30, Numbers 18:21-26, Malachi 3:7-10, Matthew 10:10; 23:23.

• The Rapture of the Church:Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

• The Second Coming of Christ:Zechariah 14:1-9, Matthew 24:30, 31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7, Titus 2:13, Jude 14, 15.

• The Millennial Kingdom:Isaiah 2:1-4, 11:5-10, Zechariah 9:10, Revelation 19:20, 20:3-10.

• New Heavens and New Earth:Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1.

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Everyone has their own idea on how to find true happiness. With every relationship, possession and new excitement people expect that this experience guarantees them the discovery of true happiness.

Francis Asbury, a recognized Christian that lived during the Age of Enlightenment, was one of the most important preachers of God’s Word of all times. The flame of his passion to spread the good news let a permanent hallmark.

Memories of the evangelisation work throughout the 50 years of the Worldwide Missionary Movement

Written by composer Frederick Martin Lehman, this song is about God’s love. An almost 100 years old ode that reaffirms the endless affection of the Creator.

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14.

Letters

“And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,... Deuteronomy 10:12- 13

Almost the whole life of María Fe Agra Melcón revolved around a scale, an instrument that remained a dramatic obsession since her birth, as well as around overweight issues, complexes and anorexia.

Events in: Colombia, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Italy, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina.



How to be truly happyEveryone has their own idea on how to find true happiness. With every relationship, possession and new excitement people expect that this experience guarantees them the discovery of true happiness. Today we will share a message of how to be happy according to Jesus. The Beatitudes of Jesus gives us the recipe for true happiness and you will discover the tools you need to cultivate that happiness in your life.

Dr. David Jeremiah

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truly happyCOVER



ONCE I was given a book written by Donald Ma-cleod, who at some time

in his life was pastor at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church in San Diego. The book is titled “The trivialization of God.” In that book the author highlights two important revolutions that have taken in most of our lives in a prominent way. The first re-volution is related to Karl Marx, and the other is related to Sig-mund Freud.

Karl Marx’s Revolution is of course the communist re-volution that is practically so-mething of the past. But the revolution that Sigmund Freud began is apparently getting stronger, with each passing year.

Osguin says that more than five hundred therapies of di-fferent brands compete today for millions of customers in an increasingly growing market of Mac Floyd licensees and inde-pendent stores that strip the hu-man population of more than 400 billion dollars each year. Psychology is no longer just the product of some arcane theory produced by European intellec-tuals, or a luxury available only to those with enough money to seek professional advice for their tormented egos.

We are rehabilitating our psyches with the intensity of Olympic runners on the final lap. We are contacting the abu-sed child within us who make us feel depressions, anxieties and compulsions, and not to mention neurosis and psycho-sis. We join groups that lead us to walk twelve steps, prac-tice role-playing and primal screams toward positive self-esteem in order to fully develop our human potential. Sounds like we are in trouble, like what

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we are trying to do to be happy is not working because we herd back to get fixed.

The point is that there are 80 million Americans seeking help from therapists, and it is estima-ted that 10 million more people will do likewise next year. In 1968 there were 12 clinical psy-chologists in the United States, today they are more than 40 thousand.

Once, we were afraid that our pastor discovered us doing something we should not do, now we are afraid of being im-mature in front of the therapist, someone said.

Someone sent me a list of strange things that happen when you call the psychiatric hot line, you will hear the fo-llowing responses: • If you are obsessive-compulsi-

ve, please press 1 repeatedly.• If you are co-dependent, plea-

se ask someone to press 2.• If you have multiple persona-

lities, please press 3, 4, 5 and 6.• If you are paranoid-delusio-

nal, we know who you are and what you want.

• If you are schizophrenic, lis-ten carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.

• If you are manic-depressive, it doesn’t matter which num-ber you press. No one will an-swer.

• If you have attention deficit disorder we cannot help you because chances are you have already hung up.

THE MYSTERY OF HAPPINESSOn one occasion a television net-work presented a special pro-gram about happiness, called “The mystery of happiness,” the subtitle was “The mystery of happiness. Who has it and how to get it?” Amongst many things



gthat were discussed in this spe-cial program, people who were commonly considered as happy were interviewed. For instance, people who won the lottery and people who had made millions of dollars were interviewed. Hence, a young man who had won 26 million dollars in the lottery was interviewed and he was asked, “Are you happy?” His answer was, “Not really.” He won 26 million dollars in the lottery, but that money did not serve him in the way he thought it was going to.

Then the reporters went to Europe and interviewed tho-se who had acquired royalty, people in positions of high prominence, they were asked, “Are you happy?” Basically the answer was, “Not really”. Ric-key Henderson was also inter-

viewed was not happy either. The reporters showed a photo-graph of the Dallas Cowboys with the football Super Cup and a photograph of their star cap-tain and behind him there was an article about how he had won the World Cup and the captain asked, “Is that everything?”

It was a secular program was not a program prepared by Christians or people who had a specific purpose, they were people who simply asked, “How do we reach happiness?”

The reporters made many studies; they put sensors on the heads of people and discovered that happiness resides here up somewhere. They put sensors on the heads of people, trying to figure out what occurred when they were happy. The reporters performed experiments with

newborn babies. They discove-red that if they hung two dices as toys over the baby, the baby was fine but if they put ten di-ces, the baby felt entranced; however, if they took away eight dices and just left two, the baby had a tantrum for the loss of eight dices.

The reporters spent thou-sands of dollars to discover that the world does not know how to make people happy. Then, you come as a preacher and say, “All right friends, let us read Matthew 5. In this passage Jes-us speaks about happiness.” We read it and everyone look at it with rolling eyes.

TWO WORLDSPhillip Jensen preached about the Beatitudes and he was invited to the White House.

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panded opportunities.” He de-cided that this would probably not work after all, at least not in today’s world.

There are two different worlds. There is the world whe-re we live in and there is a world of which Jesus speaks. Jesus tells us, “You will not find here what you are looking for, if you want to dedicate your life to Him, then do it, but you will not find Him, let me tell you what you may find on the principles I want to give you.” Then He says, “Let me tell you how to be happy and these principles are real, amazing and comple-tely opposite to what the world says.”

Blessed are the meek, God resisteth the proud and lifteth up the meek. He will get closer to those who do not brag about themselves, but talk about acknowledgments that they haven’t acquire yet. Blessed are those who are humble and tho-se who suffer.

The world says, “Prevent the pain whatever the cost is, do everything possible and impos-sible to get rid of all pain, to dis-guise it, to mask it, do not talk about death, disease or about the cross because it is pain, and you have to stay away from that as much as possible.”

The Lord Jesus comes and says that some of the most profound things that you will experience emerge from pain; some of the greatest truths you will learn is in the midst of suffering; some of the most joyful moments you will ex-perience, will happen when everything outside appears seems to scream anguish in your life. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

This happened shortly after the Persian Gulf War, and the president was really concerned because the evangelical popu-lation viewed him unfavora-bly. Thus the president invited twelve evangelical leaders to the White House to find out how to increase his affection with evangelicals.

When the writer Phillip Jensen thought about the Bea-titudes, the following ques-tion came into his mind: What would Jesus say if I had to go to the White House? How would the Beatitudes fit in today’s world? Then, a short speech came to his mind. He would say to Mr. Clinton: “Mr. Presi-dent, first of all I want to advise you to stop worrying so much about the economy and unem-ployment, a smaller gross natio-

nal product is usually good for the nation, you do not realize that the poor are the lucky ones. The more poor we have in the United States, the more blessed we are because there is the king-dom of heaven; and you should not devote so much time to the issue of health because, as you can see, Mr. President, those who mourn are also blessed, since they will be comforted. And I know that you’ve heard the religious right talking about the secularization of our nation, and that you have also heard that it is no longer permitted to pray at schools and that those who protest against abortion are arrested. Reassure, sir, the oppression of the government gives Christians the opportu-nity to be persecuted and are therefore blessed, thanks for ex-



g

The world says you should try to accept everything, or use it all. If you have power, use it; if you have money, use it to get what you want; make the most of every resource you have at your disposal, read all the self-help books. And that is what they tell you.

Jesus says that true hap-piness comes when you have power, but that power is under the control of the Spirit of God. When you realize that you don’t have to use your power all the time, you are going di-rectly against the philosophy of the world with this formula of blessedness.

The impetus to the success of today’s world is relentless, some have been caught up in this whirlwind of self-destruc-tion, you run faster and faster trying to get what you do not have and there is always a litt-le voice inside that tells you: “I have to run even faster.” It is not easy to live up to the dreams of our society. Someone said: “It is hard to climb the ladder of suc-cess while trying to keep your nose pressed to the whetstone, your shoulder in the wheel, your eye on the target, and your ear over the ground.”

Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy; blessed are those who help. Jesus Himself came to this world not to be served but to serve, and to give his life to rescue many people.” Take note of this, those who truly un-derstand happiness, especially those who walk with Christ, have learned that happiness is not about being served, hap-piness is about serving others. The triangle of the world says: “When you get to the apex of the triangle, the whole world

that is under serves you. Jesus comes and says, “I am going to invert your triangle up and down, if you want to be great you have to be the minor of all, and it is not about how many people serve you, but how many people you serve.”

We, the pastors in the chur-ches, must understand that we are there to serve the people in the study and teaching of the Word of God. We are not in that position to be served by people, the greatest joy of our lives co-mes when we understand this truth. “Blessed are those who help, blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” You want someone to minister your-self, and others, because you will always get ministry in return.

The world says that happi-

none of these people are happy. “You will not achieve happiness through unstoppable pressure, happiness emerges through ho-liness and purity,” Jesus says. These are strange words for the world in which we live and they go directly against everything you see, hear and feel in the cul-ture in which we live: blessed are the saints.

Then Jesus says: “Blessed are those who heal.” The world says that if you are in the struc-ture of its culture, especially in the secular world, and you want to reach the summit, you do not have to worry if your friends are eating each other ali-ve. Further, maybe you should encourage some containment, competition among your com-petitors and let them knock down each other, so that you can climb above the carnage of the situation and get to the top, that is what the world says.

Then Jesus says, “Blessed are the harassed.” If I am haras-sed, I am supposed to be happy. Jesus says, “Blessed are those persecuted for holiness’ sake and for my sake because that is a compliment, it is a sign that you belong to me, it is a creden-tial that you are Christians, it is a catalyst. It helps you to deve-lop and is a condition for your future glory in the kingdom.

Go over all these beatitu-des and think about this for a moment. Would you write a formula if someone asked you how to be happy? Blessed are the meek, blessed are those who suffer, blessed are the contro-lled, blessed are those who are hungry, blessed are the saints, blessed are those who help, blessed are those who heal, blessed are the harassed. That is what Jesus says.

How can we be happy

The Lord Jesus comes and says that some of the most profound things that you will experience emerge from pain; some of the greatest truths you will learn is in the midst of suffering; some of the most joyful moments you will experience, will happen when everything outside appears seems to scream anguish in your life. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

ness and joy lie in the unrestric-ted freedom and the sexual re-volution, all these things exist in today’s society under the ban-ner of freedom, we do not want the right to freedom of speech to be violated, so we allow that all kinds of putrefaction to be dis-played in our world. Jesus co-mes and says. “Wait a moment, blessed are the saints, blessed are the pure in heart.”

There are not happy adulte-rers, there are not happy forni-cators or blessed homosexual,

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with all what Jesus says? The word “blessed” in the book of Matthew is a translation of the Greek word “Eulogio”. One does not need to be a space engi-neer to figure out that this word comes from our word “eulogy” or “elegy”. When do we give an elegy? When all is over, when the person receiving it cannot answer, when you have said all you were going to say and you have done what you were going to do, then we give and elegy. Jesus says that there is a way you can have a praise throughout your life, you may have the blessing of God from the beginning, if you follow the-se principles because they are principles of joy and happiness in the Christian experience.

On one hand we have the world, and, on the other, the world that the Lord Jesus talks about. We are in this world but we are not of this world. God puts us in this world and we cannot leave this world. We would have to die to get out of this world. The

point is that while we live in this culture, we have to learn to live the way of God, God’s way is not the way of the world, and there is an incredible tension between these two worlds.

There is a book about a mis-sionary named Bill Borden, who was born into an aristocrat fa-mily, the Borden family, which was one of the richest families in the eastern region of the United States. There are seve-ral Borden dairy products and that is part of their companies. Bill Borden was the first child, and should inherit the entire business. God came into his life when he was in college. Once, when he was still studying at college, he returned home and told his parents that he was going to China as a missionary. They could not believe it, the father said, “You know that if you do that I will disinherit you, because I want someone to stay here and manage the business. If you go to China say goodbye to the incredible richness of the

Borden family.” Bill Borden did so and left. He went to China as a missionary and soon after arriving he contracted a disease and shortly after he died. While his room was being cleaned so-meone found on his desk a note saying, “I will not Back Down, I will not go back, I do not regret about what I made.”

When you reach the end of your life you will say: “I do not regret about anything.” Was the man happy? He was much happier dying in China, doing the will of God, knowing that he was where God wanted him to be, knowing that he could never have done that, if he had stayed at home, in the comfort of the family fortune. At the end of his life he could say: “I do not regret what I did.”

Jesus says there is a way to be happy and the world does not know anything about it. We have to devote our lives to cul-tivate it, and when we find that way, we will find joy and perso-nal happiness in our lives u



Quality time in family

Praydaily

TRUE HAPPINESS1. Denmark2. Norway3. Switzerland4. Netherlands5. Sweden6. Canada7. Finland8. Austria9. Iceland10. Australia

146. Madagascar147. Senegal148. Syria149. Comoros150. Guinea151. Tanzania152. Rwanda153. Burundi154. Central African Republic155. Benin156. Togo

63. Vietnam64. Hong Kong65. Nicaragua66. Belarus67. Mauritius68. Russia69. Northern Cyprus70. Greece71. Lithuania72. Estonia73. Algeria74. Jordan75. Jamaica76. Indonesia77. Turkey78. Libya79. Bahrain80. Montenegro81. Pakistan82. Nigeria83. Kosovo84. Honduras85. Portugal86. Ghana87. Ukraine88. Latvia89. Kyrgyzstan90. Romania91. Zambia92. Philippines93. China

The happiest countries in the world

Three factors were measured:

(WorldHappinessReport2013_online)

.............

.............

.............

.............

Read the Bible

-

Communion between brothers

The Bible says:

Attend church

Smile daily

Hap

pier

Less

hap

py

be kind to your neighbor

Work dignifies

the person

Share the Word

Happiness is found only in God. You should then first know God, and keep him in your heart. Keep him, not as mere information, or general culture, but as a constant friend in our lives.Happiness does not depend on any external circumstance, but on what is in the heart, because God dwells within. While outside circumstances may be as adverse as they can get, inside, in the heart, there is peace.

The word “blessed” means happy, blissful. In the original Greek it means something big or long lasting. It is an adjective describing someone happy, blessed, and deserving congratulations. It is a word of grace that expresses the special joy and satisfaction granted to the person experiencing SALVATION. This is a basic description of the internal condition of the believer as a result of God’s work.

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no pro�t under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11. “Vanity of vanities... all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 12:8.“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13.“But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18.“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit is no guile.” Psalm 32:1-2.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be �lled. Blessed are

the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the

peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall

say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward

in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12.

“But seek ye �rst the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these

things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my

voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he

with me.” Revelation 3:20.

“World Happiness Report 2013”. These levels were measured through a study based on 156 countries and carried out every two years by The Earth Institute, Columbia University.

The welfare the inhabitants of a nation claim to have.The life expectancy they have.The ecological footprint of a nation.The study was performed after approval in July 2011 of a resolution of the United Nations.

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Quality time in family

Praydaily

TRUE HAPPINESS1. Denmark2. Norway3. Switzerland4. Netherlands5. Sweden6. Canada7. Finland8. Austria9. Iceland10. Australia

146. Madagascar147. Senegal148. Syria149. Comoros150. Guinea151. Tanzania152. Rwanda153. Burundi154. Central African Republic155. Benin156. Togo

63. Vietnam64. Hong Kong65. Nicaragua66. Belarus67. Mauritius68. Russia69. Northern Cyprus70. Greece71. Lithuania72. Estonia73. Algeria74. Jordan75. Jamaica76. Indonesia77. Turkey78. Libya79. Bahrain80. Montenegro81. Pakistan82. Nigeria83. Kosovo84. Honduras85. Portugal86. Ghana87. Ukraine88. Latvia89. Kyrgyzstan90. Romania91. Zambia92. Philippines93. China

The happiest countries in the world

Three factors were measured:

(WorldHappinessReport2013_online)

.............

.............

.............

.............

Read the Bible

-

Communion between brothers

The Bible says:

Attend church

Smile daily

Hap

pier

Less

hap

py

be kind to your neighbor

Work dignifies

the person

Share the Word

Happiness is found only in God. You should then first know God, and keep him in your heart. Keep him, not as mere information, or general culture, but as a constant friend in our lives.Happiness does not depend on any external circumstance, but on what is in the heart, because God dwells within. While outside circumstances may be as adverse as they can get, inside, in the heart, there is peace.

The word “blessed” means happy, blissful. In the original Greek it means something big or long lasting. It is an adjective describing someone happy, blessed, and deserving congratulations. It is a word of grace that expresses the special joy and satisfaction granted to the person experiencing SALVATION. This is a basic description of the internal condition of the believer as a result of God’s work.

“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no pro�t under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11. “Vanity of vanities... all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 12:8.“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13.“But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18.“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit is no guile.” Psalm 32:1-2.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be �lled. Blessed are

the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the

peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall

say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward

in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12.

“But seek ye �rst the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these

things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my

voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he

with me.” Revelation 3:20.

“World Happiness Report 2013”. These levels were measured through a study based on 156 countries and carried out every two years by The Earth Institute, Columbia University.

The welfare the inhabitants of a nation claim to have.The life expectancy they have.The ecological footprint of a nation.The study was performed after approval in July 2011 of a resolution of the United Nations.



Persecution of Christians

During the first decade of the 21st century, more than 100,000 Christians have died each year. In other words, 11 people are martyred every hour (*).

ACCORDING TO non-reli-gious groups fighting for human rights, 80%

of violations of religious free-dom are against Christians. The U.S. senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have made har-sh accusations against Presi-dent Obama. The main one is that Obama must rule on the “global war against Chris-tians.”

Rand Paul said that “tens of millions of radical Mus-lims are waging a global war against Christianity” and the US, which is considered the largest Christian nation in the world; an intervention is the-refore necessary. Then, the senator mentioned a list of recent attacks against Chris-

tians in Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, Guinea, Tanzania, Kenya, Indonesia and Libya, among others.

It is his hope that Obama will require greater religious freedom, especially in coun-tries receiving money from the US. In Pakistan, a Muslim is punishable by death if he is converted to Christianity.

He ended by saying, “Do not be fooled, help us to esta-blish these new Islamic regi-me”, in clear reference to the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the US is still ba-ttling against the extremists. For him, the situation is even worse in Syria, where rebels with military weapons are Al- Qaeda allies in the United States. “The tax money should not be used to support a war against Christians”, said Rand Paul.

This stance has the full support of Ted Cruz, the son of an evangelical pastor. Both are presidential pre-candida-

tes in the upcoming elections. At the same meeting, during the Values Voter Summit, held on October 11 in Washing-ton, Cruz spoke out against Obama’s foreign policy and his measures to restrict the re-ligious freedom of Christians within their own country.

WAR ON CHRISTIANS?Earlier this month, journalist John Allen Jr., launched his la-test book, “The Global War on Christians”. Most of his com-ments have the same tone as the statements of the senators.

Allen explained what he calls “the global wave of violence,” which has made today’s Christians the most persecuted group because of their religion.

“The defense of persecuted Christians around the world should be priority number one because it is part of their human rights,” says Allen. For him, the world press has avoided repor-ting due to “other interests.”

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’

sake: for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven. Blessed are ye, when men

shall revile you, and persecute you, and

shall say all manner of evil against you

falsely, for my sake.Rejoice, and be

exceeding glad: for great is your reward

in heaven: for so persecuted they

the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

february 2014 17

INTERNATIONAL

The journalist said that ac-cording to his research, con-ducted during the first decade of the 21st century, more than 100,000 Christians died each year. In other words, 11 peo-ple are martyred every hour. According to non-religious groups fighting for human rights, 80% of violations of religious freedom are against Christians.

Allen stresses that we must “end the silence about the per-secution against Christians.” For him, this situation occurs in all continents, albeit to varying degrees. He also makes clear that conflicts occur not only between Christians and Mus-lims, Hindu radicals also kill in India and in South Asia, the justification of some massacres is merely political.

In his book, he notes the exis-tences of persecution involving violence and murder, the most extreme example are the con-centration camps in North Ko-rea. However, he does not forget to show that there is a secular movement in the West which is opposed to any kind of mani-festations of Christian thought, especially for its stance against abortion and gay marriage u

(*) Taken from: http://www.protestantedigital.com/



REMINIS-CENCESof theWORK

february 2014 19

PICTURES

1. Faculty of the Elim Bible Institute in Puerto Rico. From left to right: Luis M. Ortiz, Inocencio Román, Marta Cortés, Nilda Cancel, Pilar Ortiz, Ketty de Ortiz, and Abimael Ortiz. Picture taken in the 60’s.

2. Pastor Luis M. Ortiz with part of the congregation he led in Puerto Rico. Picture taken in early 70’s on a Rev. Ortiz’s celebration in the town of Trujillo Alto, where the church is still located.

3. Graduating Class of the Elim Bible Institute of Puerto Rico 1964-1965.

4. Rev. Luis M. Ortiz anoints with oil Rev. Gustavo Martínez to his full ministry.

1 2

3

4



The New International Version of the Bible

mutilates and alters texts to undermine the

basis of Christianity. We must be vigilant in

recognizing the distorted passages.

The Apocryphal Gospels (Iv)

THE NEW INTERNATIONAL Ver-sion (NIV) is a version of Scripture must be rightly

described as altered and mu-tilated. This is how it should be because throughout its pa-ges dozens and dozens of texts from the Bible have been chan-ged and mutilated. This work is only a short approach to this is-sue and does not intend to make an exhaustive list of all passages that have suffered a distortion but to point out some of the most significant ones. It should be noted that all alterations and mutilations of the biblical text have a clear theological purpo-se that attempts to undermine the scriptural basis of Christian theology. In the early 20th cen-

Rev. Domingo FernándezDr. César Vidal Manzanares

tury many evangelical theolo-gians decided to stand up to the powerful advance of the liberal movement and they noted five essential basis of the Christian faith:1. The inerrancy, infallibility

and literal truth of the Bible in every detail.

2. The virginal conception and complete deity of Jesus Christ.

3. The physical resurrection of Christ and all the dead.

4. The atoning sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world.

5. The second coming of Christ in bodily form.

These foundations are being questioned by the NIV “New In-ternational Version.” However, many texts are also altered and mutilated, which gives them a final shape that can only serve to corrupt the basis of Christian ethics and satisfy movements whose theology is not entirely biblical. Therefore, in the fo-llowing pages, we have grouped the distorted texts in thematic blocks. To facilitate comparison,

we first reproduce the text in the King James 1960 revision (RVR), then the New International Ver-sion (NIV) and finally we make a brief comment intended to ex-plain the discrepancies.

I) Texts about the divinity

of Christ:The doctrine of the divini-

ty of Christ is, without doubt, one of the basic cornerstones of the Christian faith. Therefo-re, no wonder that almost all sects try to deny it completely (as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unita-rians, Mormons, etc.) or minimi-ze it (for example, by stating that Christ is Michael the Archangel as Witnesses teach Jehovah). A

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HISTORY

version of the bible altered by theological interests could not escape this behavior and in-deed that is what is discovered when examining the text of the New International Version. In it, Christ is deprived of divine tit-les and the honor that is due to him as God. MATTHEW 13:51

RVR. “Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.”

NIV. “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.(The NIV suppresses the tit-

le of “Lord” which is given to Jesus).

MATTHEW 19:16-17RVR. “And, behold, one

came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

NIV. “Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher,

what good thing must I do to get eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” (The NIV suppresses the description of Jesus as “good” (v. 16) and the description of God as the only good being (v.17). Thus it is not possible to notice that Jesus is making the rich young man to come to an important conclusion, which is that since Christ is good and God Is the only good being, then Christ is God).JOHN 3:13

RVR. “And no man hath

The doctrine of the divini ty of Christ is, without doubt, one of the basic cornerstones of the Christian faith. Therefo-re, no wonder that almost all sects try to deny it completely.



g

ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

NIV. “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” (The NIV suppresses the statement that the Son of Man is in heaven, which means that the Son of Man is omnipresent and therefore he is God).JOHN 6:69

RVR. “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

NIV. “We have come to be-lieve and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (The NIV alters the text by depriving Jes-us of his identifications with the Messiah and his divine title of the Son of God).

JOHN 9:35-38RVR. “Jesus heard that they

had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him

And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.”

NIV. “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, sir? the man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe, and

february 2014 23

HISTORY

he worshiped him. (The NIV deprives Jesus of his title of the Son of Lord and also replaces the fact that He was worship-ped by the fact that He was only honored). ACTS 8:36-37

RVR. “And as they went on their way, they came unto a cer-tain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou ma-yest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

NIV. “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” (The NIV suppresses verse 37 and with it, the need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God as a requirement for bap-tism is also suppressed).ROMANS 14:10-12

RVR. “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

NIV. “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God. So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” (The NIV replaces Christ (v.10) by God, so that Christ cannot be identified as the God in v.12).

I CORINTHIANS 15:47RVR. “The first man is of the

earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

NIV. “The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.” (The NIV suppresses the statement that the second man, Christ, is the Lord). GALATIANS 6:17

RVR. “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”

NIV. “From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (The NIV suppresses the tittle of Lord given to Jesus).

in the world, was taken up in glory.” (The NIV suppresses the fact that the one who was mani-fested in the flesh was the same God and that , therefore , Christ is God. Also, this version also re-places “God” by “Christ”, even though there is no single ma-nuscript of the New Testament containing the text written in that way).1 JOHN 5:7

RVR. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

NIV. “For there are three that testify.” (The NIV suppresses the entire Trinity in this verse). PROVERBS 8:22

RVR. “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.”

NIV. “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, be-fore his deeds of old.” (The NIV turns Wisdom, which many in-terpreters identify as the Son, into a created being. There is no doubt about it because in the footnote the NIV states that, “the influence of these verses is evident in the prologue of the Gospel of John”). MICAH 5:2

RVR. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

NIV. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (The NIV deprives the Messiah of his eter-nity and, therefore, of the fact of being God. This version just sta-tes that his linage is ancient) u

The New International Version takes enternity away from the Messiah -and therefore- the power of being God. This Version only states that His lineage is ancient.

EPHESIANS 3:14RVR. “For this cause I bow

my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

NIV. “For this reason I kneel before the Father.” (La NIV sup-presses the description of Jesus as Lord). I TIMOTHY 3:16

RVR. “And without contro-versy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

NIV. “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vin-dicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on



The love of God!

Written by composer Frederick Martin Lehman, this song is about God’s love. An almost 100 years old ode that reaffirms the endless affection of the Creator.

THE LOVE of God!, one of the most beautiful hymns ever created to

praise the Almighty, con-denses in a special way the believer’s impossibility to put into words the magni-ficence and immensity of Lord’s mercy and love. Writ-ten by composer Christian Frederick Martin Lehman and based on an old Aramaic poem written by Rabbi Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai in the ele-venth century, this song mo-ves and makes the listener feel like a small piece of dust compared to the greatness of the Almighty’s infinite grace.

Lehman was born on August 7, 1868, in the city of Schwerin, capital of Mec-

SERVANT OF THE LORD

THE CONTRIBUTION of Fre-derick Martin Lehman

to the Lord’s work was not limited to the composition around a hundred hymns, among which stood out clearly The love of God, but also involved the work of spreading God’s Word to the unsaved. Lehman pas-tored Christian churches in the states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, New York and Kansas City. He was also one of the founders of the Nazarene Publishing House, an or-ganization that was later in charge of printing numerous hymnals.

klenburg-Western Pomera-nia state, located in northern Germany. When he was four years old, he emigrated to America and settled in Lowa. Frederick lived there most of his childhood. After being at the mercy of the world, Frederick’s heart heard the voice of the Lord and surren-

dered himself to God at the age of eleven. “It was a ha-ppy morning while walking in the woods when I met the Almighty,” he later recalled.

Years later, Lehman mo-ved to Pasadena, California. He worked there, packing fruit after losing all his fi-nancial assets. His working days were arduous and ex-hausting: he had to lift about thirty tons of oranges and le-mons each day, which were packed in baskets that were transported by boat. He ne-ver complained nor rejec-ted God for his difficult si-tuation. However, very few would expect that a context like this could be the scena-rio for someone to inspire and make up, for example, hymns.

In 1917, a Sunday night, Frederick attended the wors-hip of his church and heard a powerful and inspiring mes-sage about God’s love. In this regard, Lehman himself told once that while listening to

february 2014 25

MUSIC

the sermon his heart glowed with excitement and gratitu-de. The next morning, while he was eating breakfast, tho-se words still echoed in his mind and he immediately took a pen and paper and began to compose a hymn whose main theme was the Almighty’s love. And so throughout the day, while having a break at work, he finished writing it.

Back home at night, he quickly went to his old piano and he began to transcribe the song on paper by using

his collection of ideas. Soon he had the entire melody with two verses and a cho-rus. However, a song had to have at least three verses to be complete at that time. While trying to write the third verse, he realized that the words did not follow the melody. After a brief hesita-tion, Lehman recalled that he had a printed card with a poem about God’s love, and then he completed his work.

Frederick Martin Leh-man wrote a pamphlet en-titled “History of the hymn:

the love of God!” where he explained the origin of his beautiful song in 1948, twen-ty nine years after its first publication. Since then, this hymn, which was translated into Spanish by missionary William Robert Adell, has given Christians a select ve-hicle to express gratitude to God for His great love. Le-hman passed away in the presence of the Lord on Fe-bruary 20, 1953, at the age of 85. He was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California u

THE LOVE OF GOD

1The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;It goes beyond the highest star,And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled,And pardoned from his sin.

ChorusO love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!It shall forevermore endure

The saints’ and angels’ song.2

When years of time shall pass away,And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,

When men, who here refuse to pray,On rocks and hills and mountains call,God’s love so sure, shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;Redeeming grace to Adam’s race

The saints’ and angels’ song.3

Could we with ink the ocean fill,And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,And every man a scribe by trade,To write the love of God above,

Would drain the ocean dry.Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.



“In the Arena of Faith”, a book written by

the theologian and writer Erich Sauer, is a

warning sing for Christians. This book makes

Christian realize that it is necessary to wake

up from their slumber and neglect, abandon

frivolity and worldliness that lives and get rid

of their complacency in a passive spirituality.

This is the first installment.

In the Arena of Faith (I)

“THE GREATEST joy in life is to make Jesus Christ known.” I read this in

large letters on the wall of the Moody Hall in Chicago. This word of that great evangelist expresses the essence of his life and the joy received thereby. These words should also be the motto of the service and the stri-ving of all the truly redeemed. We all live “by” Christ. We all strive “toward” Christ. We all wish to be “in” Him and “for” Him. Our life is only of as much value as Christ is in us. Anything that is superadded besides Jesus

is worthless. It is true, the ear-thly and outward has its value which is not to be underesti-mated in this present life, if it is kept within bounds. We are far from regarding the wonders of creation as of little import, or gi-ving ourselves over to cynicism or escapism in that we despise everything that is natural. But we must insist that only that will remain for our everlasting existence which is today direc-ted towards Christ in us. Only that has eternal value which has been lived for Him and loved for Him, which we have done in Him, which we have suffered for and gained with Him. Jesus and Jesus alone is the life of our life, the eternity of our time, the value which can never be stolen, ruined or devaluated. For this reason everything depends on a practical attitude of living faith to Jesus Christ.

This is the fundamental es-sence of all New Testament spi-ritual life. To show forth and practice the truth and the life of

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LITERATURE



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Christ is the content and messa-ge of the whole New Testament. Jesus Christ is for all the New Testament writers the living and only panacea for all illness, weakness, and distress. Every one of them is perfectly sure of it: Jesus never disappoints: Jesus only wonderfully surprises. He never does less than He promi-sed. On the contrary, He exceeds His own word, so that everyone who really trusts in Him can join in the happy exclamation of the Queen of Sheba: “Not the half had been told me.”

It is not a rhetorical phrase but my most serious conviction when I state: If anyone were to offer me a ball of gold as big as the sun, pure gold-saying, however, at the same time, “You must exchange your faith in the Lord Jesus for this,” I should not have to hesitate for one moment. There can be only one answer: “Away with your golden ball into outer space. I despise it. Je-sus is of infinitely greater value to me.” And I know that I should not be the only one to give this re-ply. Every real disciple of Christ would give the same answer. Every true believer would so reply, just as promptly, without any hesitation. All created lights of this world are eclipsed to the man for whom Jesus Christ is ri-sen as the sun of righteousness. “A greater than all is here!”

The whole New Testament speaks of this “greater one,” of Him who is indeed the greatest of all. For this reason the central message of the whole book is the call: “Let us look unto Jesus!”

Three New Testament wri-tings out of a total of 27 books form a special constellation in this sense: the Gospel of John, the Colossian letter and that to the Hebrews.

In John’s Gospel the glory of Christ is radiated as seen from above. He is the Son who came down from heaven into this world. He was sent from the Father. Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of heaven. This is salvation’s basis.

In the Colossian letter we view the glory of Jesus from within, i.e., from within Himself, as the living, active Saviour and

Redeemer, because of the excee-ding greatness of His person, and the all-inclusive sufficiency of His work. Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of His own person and His own work. This is salvation’s center.

The letter to the Hebrews shows us the glory of Christ compared with earlier times, i.e., the times of the preparation for salvation in Old Testament his-tory. So Christ is here shown as the One Who not only fulfilled God’s greatest revelations but also infinitely exceeded them .Thus we see Christ as viewed under the aspect of prepara-tion and fulfillment. This is salvation’s history.

Therefore, while the call, “Let us look unto Jesus!” is the motto of the New Testament in gene-ral, how much more is the motto in this radiant constellation of these three Spirit given Divine messages!

This message, as indeed the message of the whole New Tes-tament, aims at life and reality.

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LITERATURE

“Looking unto Jesus” must justi-fy itself in practice. The message is not concerned with “enthu-siasm for Christ” but with being “filled with the Spirit of Christ,” not with mere admiration of His greatness, but with practical ex-perience of His all-sufficiency in the trials and tribulations of this everyday life of ours; not only intellectual, spiritual vision, but spiritual action; not only songs of triumph, but a real practical victory; not only worship, but discipleship. Both aspects be-long inseparably together: the sanctuary and everyday life, heaven and earth, the exalted Christ and His sanctifying prac-tical life-power to be experien-ced here below.

The twelfth chapter of the let-ter to the Hebrews is that portion of the New Testament in which this relationship between the vision of Christ and victory in battle is especially emphasized. We shall consider this chapter from the following chief points of view:

Let us look unto Jesus!For He is our example in

conflict.

Let us look unto Jesus!For thus we can attain practical

victory.

Let us look unto Jesus!For thus we remain steadfast in

suffering.

Let us look unto Jesus!For thus we can live up to the

privileges of our birthright.

Let us look unto Jesus!For thus we shall attain unto the

Crown and the heavenly City.

This looking unto Jesus is at the same time a looking away

from everything else. For this reason a word is used for “loo-king” in Hebrews 12 which includes both these meanings. It means a purposeful looking away from those objects which automatically catch the eye, to those other objects which have to be concentrated upon. By this means all lack of concentra-tion will be overcome. Our eyes will be directed on one object, Christ, and the heart will the-reby be held by His glory. Thus the whole inward man experien-ces in ever increasing measure the depths and the riches of the Scripture: “They saw no one but Jesus only” (Matt. 17:8).

All the blessings of God are so devised that they can increa-se. That is, every fulfillment is at the same time a promise of so-mething greater. God never rea-ches the end of His possibilities (John 1:16; Eph. 2:7). Thus the best and most glorious is ever before us and to come. All is of glory, in glory, and, according to His own plan, “from glory to glory” (II Cor. 3:18).

With the world and sin it is otherwise. It starts with mock joy and ends with disappointment. At the beginning there is a de-ceptive glitter and at the end night.

Many years ago I visited a Press Exhibition in Cologne. In one of the large halls the rela-tionship between the Press and the postal services was shown by various documents and tables. I shall never forget the decoration on one of the main walls. It re-presented a huge eagle. The ex-hibition concerned itself with the attainments of the German postal services up to 1928. The effect of this huge eagle was most impo-sing. But when one came nearer to it and looked at it more closely one discovered that it consisted

solely of postage stamps of the inflation period-hundreds of thousands of small inflation pos-tage stamps. I said to my compa-nion immediately: “For estima-ting things earthly is not this a picture of the values of this world in general? Regarded from a dis-tance, at first sight, they seem to be grand and imposing. But the nearer one comes to them, the more one discovers that they are all inflated values-huge numbers but little worth. Not only infla-tion of money but inflation of words, inflation of terms, infla-tion of ideals, inflation of spirit. Behind this mighty façade only very little actual substance. The more one gets to know them the less one values them. A great ea-gle… worthless stamps!

How different is Jesus Christ! His worth for us increases the more we get to know Him. He proves Himself true even in the severest testing of everyday practice. He faileth never. For this reason our whole thought and endeavor should be direc-ted towards Him. He leads us “from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:17), “from strength to strength” (Psa. 84:7), “from glory to glory” (II Cor. 3:18).

In Him there is opened an inexhaustible fountain of salva-tion (Isa. 12:3; Zech. 13:1). Yet we experience this increase in heavenly blessings only when our souls strive forward. Only those who are hungry get satis-fied, only those who are thirsty are refreshed (Matt. 5:6), only those who take their disciples-hip to be a “race” attain the “pri-ze” of their calling (Phil. 3:14; II Pet.1:10).

Therefore “let us look unto Jesus!” Only so can we be win-ners and reach in the arena of

faith the goal of everlasting glory (Heb.12:1-3) u



Francis Asbury, a recognized Christian that lived during the Age of Enlightenment, was one of the most important preachers of God’s Word of all times. The flame of his passion to spread the good news let a permanent hallmark.

Apostle of Christianity

WHAT CAN motivate a man, during his full flower of life, to aban-

don his country and his fa-mily towards unknown lands to preach the Gospel? What encourages a young person, full of dreams and ambitions, to leave the comfort of his life to deal with the task of ope-ning a new path for God’s Word? There can be only one answer: the love for God. Only someone who has expe-rienced the love of God may do such thing. Someone like Francis Asbury, a man whose life was devoted to God’s ser-vice and who became one of

Johan Pérez Landeo

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the greatest preachers of the 18th century.

Francis Asbury was born on August 21st, 1745, in Bir-mingham, one of the most im-portant and prospering cities in England during the Age of Enlightenment. Francis was raised in the bosom of a wor-king class Christian family in the “City of a thousand tra-des”. His parents, José and Elizabeth, were poor, but ho-nest and very diligent. They had two children, a boy and a girl, but this last one, named Sara, died at a very young age. Her premature death was a very harsh event for the Asbury family. Neverthe-less, that sad experience be-came the trigger to pursuit good news incessantly.

A SENSIBLE CHRISTIAN While his parents made all their possible to offer his son all the love and affection that every child needs at home, always instilling him with the Holy Scriptures (he began to

read the Bible at the age of six), Francis lived a comple-tely different story at school, where he was constantly hu-miliated by his teacher. For that reason, he took the de-cision to escape from there while being only 13 years old.

Francis then went to live some months with one the wealthiest, but also impious, families of his community. As expected, he learnt to live a very vain life. Though after a short while, he returned with his parents and restar-ted his studies while working as a blacksmith’s helper.

Before turning 14 years old, the Highest knocked the door of Francis’ heart using a preacher invited by his mother. During the meeting, the child’s spirit was awake-ned and from that moment on, he was possessed by a great yearning to know God. He started to pray more of-ten and fervently, feeling the irresistible love of the

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gHeavenly Father. Every time he had a chance, he went to listen recognized preachers and spent hours and hours reading sermons of great preachers, such as George Whitefield.

SEND ME, MY LORDHis approach to the Metho-dist movement was due to his mother, who gave him good references about the group and advised him to go to Wednesbury city to listen the Methodist ministers. When he finally traveled, Francis stood astonished before the Metho-dist preachers, who prayed delightfully and spread beau-tiful messages without the support of a prayer book or a book of sermons.

Francis immediately joi-ned the Methodists and at-tended absolutely all their meetings of prayer and study of God’s Word. One time, the owner of the house told them that they could not meet there anymore, so that they should look for another place. Then, Francis began to perform the worships at his father’s hou-se with the willingness that would always characterize him. Francis, with no more experience but with a great love for souls, convinced and encouraged many people du-ring those worships. He was unconsciously exercising the pastoral ministry.

His powerful messages, full of the Saint Spirit’s force, affected the lives of thousands of people. He was so dedica-ted and enthusiastic when evangelizing (he preached three, four, or even five times a week), that he was appoin-ted a full-time preacher at the

age of 21. The next five years, Francis constantly worked as an itinerant preacher.

Francis, like the Apostle Paul, learnt that to preach Christ was not just a duty, but a privilege. He also unders-tood, like the Apostle Peter, that believers must be fishers of men and not just guardians of the aquarium. For that rea-son, when John Wesley asked during a Methodist conferen-ce performed on August 1771 at Bristol city: “Our brothers in North America calls us out loud for help. Who is willing to go there and help them?”, Francis Asbury did not he-sitated and offered to go to America.

MISSION IN AMERICAOn September 2nd, 1771, Francis left England for his

own heart. For wealth? No. I am going to live there for the glory of God and to help other people feel this same emotion”.

After five weeks of tra-vel with no unexpected in-cidents, Asbury arrived to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he met Mr. Pilmore, another Methodist preacher. After staying there for a few days, Francis departed for New York, arriving on No-vember 12th. He immedia-tely started to work. When Francis arrived, the Metho-dists were 300 people in New York, while they were about 250 in Philadelphia. The-re were also some more in Maryland. In total, the three places counted with about 600 people.

During the first months of 1772, Francis planned to broaden his field of action, so that he did not only preach in cities, but also in the fields, where his message was well received, and he converted a great amount of souls. On October, he received a letter from John Wesley stating his appointment as “Superinten-dent of all the preachers and Methodist societies of Ame-rica”. This new position did not mislead his soul. On the contrary, he kept working with the same devotion and sacrifice as when he was an itinerant preacher.

During his 45 years of ministry in the United Sta-tes, Francis Asbury always showed a great vigor towards work. It is estimated that he preached about 16 500 ser-mons, ordered 700 missiona-ries (such as Richard Allen, the first African-American minister of the United States),

His powerful messages, full of the Saint Spirit’s force, affected the lives of thousands of people. He was so dedicated and enthusiastic when evangelizing (he preached three, four, or even five times a week), that he was appointed a full-time preacher at the age of 21.

new workplace. Francis was 26 years old. When the tra-vel began, Francis exami-ned himself and his reasons to move to America while in the middle of the sea. He asked himself the following questions, which he would answer himself afterwards: “Where am I going? To the new world. What for? For honor? No, as I know my

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and traveled 435 000 km. The only period when he proba-bly took a break was during the Independence War of the United States.

During the conflict, Fran-cis was the only Methodist minister remaining in Ame-rica. Nevertheless, he was careful enough to shelter in a friend’s farm as he did not want to participate in the war nor swear loyalty to the colony’s cause. Wisely, he remained neutral during the struggle. When it finished, he could kept the confidence of the victorious party and he could continue his ministry with them.

Francis went also be-yond his administration and preaching duties. He hated slavery and asked the Presi-dent George Washington to promulgate laws against that

repulsive social system that, unfortunately, was suppor-ted by many Christians. Fran-cis wrote, concerning this issue: “My spirit saddened before the behavior of some Methodists that hire slaves to the best bidder in public pla-ces to cut their skin off later and starve them to death”.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDThe endless activities of Fran-cis Asbury caused him more than just one physical com-plication. He suffered colds, fever, strong headaches, ulcers, and finally chronic rheumatism. This last disea-se forced him not to ride his horse but to move on carria-ge. Handicapped by asthma and pleurisy, Francis must be transported like a child to anywhere. Even though, he never stopped preaching.

On March 24th, 1816, Francis Asbury preached his last sermon in Richmond, Virginia. A week later, on March 31st, he departed towards the presence of the Lord at the age of 70. Under his leadership, the number of Methodists in the United States, which were not more than 600 at his arrival, had risen to 214 000 members. In retrospect, the life and ministry of Francis Asbury teaches every Christian that God’s will will not lead any-body to any place where His grace could not reach him, and that the Creator’s great mission (Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bapti-zing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost) is not a choice, but a commandment to be fulfilled u



The faith of María Fe

Almost the whole life of María Fe Agra Melcón revolved around a scale, an instrument that remained a dramatic obsession since her birth, as well as around overweight issues, complexes and anorexia. Nowadays, after 50 years of life, she is a woman that could overcome adversity with the support of God.

HOW CAN someone survi-ve while suffering from anorexia and bipolarity,

and remain under the shadow of sin at the same time? That was an every-day-question for María Fe Agra Melcón not long ago. This woman lived for 47 years submitted to the intense pressure of her complexes cau-sed by her overweight issues and other disorders.

León city, located at 330 km north-east Madrid, Spain, was the place chosen by God for María Fe to write her own story of faith on May 7th,

Marlo Pérez

1963. That was the place whe-re she experienced some of her most critical times in her life, but also the most memo-rable ones that started with repentance and ended with pardon.

Since she was very young, María Fe had an unusual height and weight that became object of laughter among their classmates. This harassment, currently known as “bullying”, was the main cause of her com-plexes.

- I had no friends. I was dis-criminated and full of complexes since I was not loved. That is why my character grew serious and angry –she remembers.

She was the elder of three children and she never thought that just a few centimeters or kilos more could make her di-fferent from “normal” people. Her family moved to Caldes de Montbui city, in the provin-ce of Barcelona, when she was

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g11 years old, but her situation did not improve.

She was still alone, with no friends, but as if that were not enough, she started to suffer rheumatic fevers and heart disorders. Therefore, she just isolated more and became re-bel with her parents and closer relatives. She was only 14 years old when her studies and work became her only bond with the outside world.

- I was withdrawn into my-self –she says.

DISORDERS When she was 19 years old, María Fe Agra Melcón met a man that seemed to be her rescue board. They married one year later, but as the word “happiness” did not seem to be stated in her marriage certifica-te, their relationship dissolved in just two years.

She started to suffer a strong depression due to the break up. Her situation worsened when her brother died, the second child of the family Agra Mel-cón. Then, anorexia, a food and psychological disorder, appea-red in her life and started to consume her bite by bite.

Three years after the divor-ce, she restarted her relation-ship with her husband, but the sentimental and emotional damage just destroyed the few love remaining among them, moreover when he discovered that he had sterility issues.

María Fe could not stand her problems from her child-hood that were also affecting her currently. She decided then to attend some mind specialists who identified a personality di-sorder known as bipolarity. She also discovered that that disor-

der, that makes the patient turn from depression to enthusiasm and vice-versa in just a few mi-nutes, was inherited from her mother’s family. The solution was only within a medicine pot.

Her situation changed from that moment on. She even came to hit her head against walls du-ring her deep depressions. The scars on her forehead evidence those dramatic moments.

When María Fe was about to turn 30 years old, she aban-doned her parent’s house. She moved out with her disorders, her almost 150 kilos and her

deep smell of tobacco and co-ffee. Her studies and subse-quent jobs as clinical assistant kept her alive and in touch with other people.

DEGENERATIONAs if her drama was not enough, she had a homosexual relationship when she was 35 years old. Despite her catholic education, she never imagined or thought how bad it would be. It was like a fiction story.

- My life is like a movie! –she remarks.

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This abnormal relationship began at work. A 20-year-old woman seduced her and she just surrendered to her due to her emotional void. The lack of affection was the cause of her resignation. She cannot understand even now, fifteen years later, how she could live with a person of her same sex.

The forbidden relationship lasted for three years, but one day the woman just left her for another and María Fe remai-ned, once again, sank in a deep depression. The consequences showed up in her body; the anorexia did not give her a break, leading her to a total loss of appetite. In just a few months, the disorder devou-red more than 100 kilos.

During the first years of the new millennium, María Fe had a very different ima-ge. Her extreme thinness and unusual height just attracted the attention of people, and so it attracted a Bolivian tourist that she met while walking on the streets of the city. It was a romance plenty of mistrust, incomprehension and infide-lity, moreover when she dis-covered that the Bolivian guy had children in the other part of the world. Her enraged and violent reactions just broke up the relationship and the man departed.

Life just worsened. It was at that point when María Fe de-cided to put an end to her life. She ingested a great amount of sedatives, but it only caused her to fall in a very deep sleep. She could not yet leave this life; she had to follow the path of God for her.

A LITTLE BIT OF FAITHOn 2010, María Fe, with 47

years old, kept losing weight due to the anorexia. She weig-hed 45 kilos, and the years when the scale stated 150 kilos were far ago. That was her situation, when some day she heard a group of people preaching the Gospel behind her in the bus to Barcelona. While the bus was going to its last stop, she kept listening the preachers, and once the vehicle stopped, the group introduced themselves and

Since she was very young, María Fe had an unusual height and weight that became object of laughter among their classmates. This harassment, currently known as “bullying”, was the main cause of her com plexes.

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invited her to a worship. She agreed.

On October 15th, she atten-ded for the first time an Evan-gelical temple. She went there carrying on her shoulders all her problems and catholic beliefs, but when she saw the members deeply worshipping God, she admired their faith. She discove-red salvation just a month later.

- I felt like I just lifted a weight off –she tells.

The Lord healed my ano-rexia and my bipolar disorder in a very short time. It is all certified by a psychiatrist; he could never understand what happened or even give me an explanation for my recovery.

- I am sure that the Lord made it all –affirms the repented wo-man.

Nowadays, the only and healthy remedy and food

for María Fe is the Word of God that has strengthened her both physically and spi-ritually to the point of regai-ning an adequate weight, good sense and love for the people who despised her long ago.

- The Lord looked for me and He found me –tells María Fe now, a few months before her 51st birthday, completely devo-ted to the Word of God u



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Teachings and sermons of the most renowned preachers who expose the truth of the Lord through their life stories consacrated to God. The Bible says: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life... And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 5:39; 8:32

To give you Prosperity“And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deuteronomy 10:12- 13

HAVING PROSPERITY is the desire of everyone, but God´s desire, of us ha-

ving prosperity, is greater than ours. In the verses men-tioned above, God shows us how to have prosperity:

Rev. Luis M. Ortiz

1° TO FEAR THE LORD THY GOD

What is the fear of God? The fear of God is the reve-rence and recognition of the majesty, power and holiness of God.

The fear of God comes through the knowledge of the Word of God (Deuteronomy 4:10). The fear of God frees us from sin (Exodus 20:20). With the fear of God we will do well (Deuteronomy 5:29). The fear of God is the true wisdom (Job 28:28). The fear of God inspires us to pay tithes (Deuteronomy 14:22-23). God honors and defend those who fear Him (Psalm 15:4; 34:7).2° TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS

There are many ways, “we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end the-reof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Therefore, it is better to follow the God’s way. “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

In his Letter to the Ephe-sians, the Apostle Paul tells us, “walk in the good works of Christ (2:1-10; 3:17-19), walk in a manner worthy of a Christian (4:1-6), do not walk as unbelie-vers (4:17-32), walk in the love of God (5:2), to we walk as chil-dren of light (5:8), do not walk as fools but as wise (5 : 15). 3° TO LOVE HIM

The greatest and first com-mandment states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Jes-

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us said: “If you love me, keep my com-mands” (John 14:15). “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching” (John 14:24).

The Apostle Paul states that, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, en-dureth all things. Charity never failethes” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).4° TO SERVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART AND WITH ALL THY SOUL

We cannot serve God with a divided heart. Joshua cha-llenged the people of Israel saying, “choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters… Ye cannot serve God and mam-mon” (Matthew 6:24).5° TO KEEP THE COM-MANDMENTS OF THE LORD

Apostle John says, “And he-reby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his command-ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). The Lord says, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation” (Revelation 3:10).

In other words, if we fear God and we walk His ways, if we love Him more than every-body and everything, if we serve Him diligently and keep His Word, then He will make us prosper in everything and all things, everything we do will prosper (Psalm 1:3).

In order to guaranty that He will make us prosper, God said straight away, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God,

the earth also, with all that the-rein is” (Deuteronomy 10:14). King David exclaimed, “for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee” (1 Chronicles 29:11-12). Positively, the base condition for true prosperity is the fear and obedience to God.

In 1 Reyes 2:3, it is stated, “And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimo-nies, that thou mayest pros-per in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself”

And the psalm best known around the world begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). When there is nothing lacking, there is prosperity. If we obey God, He will take care that we lack for nothing. No wonder Saint Paul said, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).

Therefore,• When the serpent spoke lies

and guile, God defended and spoke truth and promised blessing.

• When the misery of sin ap-peared in the human race, God offered them the glory of redemption.

• When the race was corrupted, God promised regeneration.

• For every Cain seduced by the devil, God will have many Abel and Seth.

• For each flood, Good will have an ark.

• In every storm, God will draw His rainbow.

• For every rebel Nimrod, the-

re will be an obedient Abra-ham.

• For each captivity, God has liberation.

• For each Red Sea, God raises up a Moses.

• For each Jordan, God always has a Joshua.

• For each Jericho, there is a victory march.

• If the Midianites arise, God already has a Gideon.

• God sends the warlike Philis-tines a Samson.

• God confront each obstinate Ahab with an Elijah.

• For every arrogant Haman, God prepares a Mordecai.

• God sends his angel to each fiery furnace.

• In each den of lions, there is a hand closing their mouths.

• For each thorn, there is a flower.

• For each hard clod, there is a drop of rain.

• For every disease, God has healing.

• For each cross, there is a crown.

• For every demon, there are many angels.

• For every blameless worker coming from the belly, the-re are many sincere workers who sacrifice for the Work of God.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). The triumph in Jesus Christ means complete control over all circumstance and all satanic powers. Com-plete prosperity!

When Apostle John was already an old man, he wrote, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2). Again the Bible states that the prosperity in all aspects pertai-ning to this life depends on the spiritual prosperity u

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The builder of an empire for God“This is why, at every moment of history, when the Church of Christ has been moved by some wave of awakening to the reality of personal consecration, men and women have rediscovered Paul and have vibrated to music of his message”. Minister J. S. Stewart.

IF SAUL had found a good preacher and heard a good sermon on the road to Da-

mascus, he might had for-gotten it soon. But he found Christ. (You can avoid prea-chers and sermons, but no one can escape from Christ.) From that day, the philosophy of Paul’s life found Him, who is Life itself. This Zealot who vomited fire on the Christians found the Lord and was bap-tized with fire by Him, and as a result of the change in the young Saul, his life civilization changed course. But him, who considered himself a faultless Pharisee, a faithful guardian of the law, began to called him-self the very chief of sinners in the eyes of God. This is not surprising since he was for the newborn Christian Church what Herod was for newborns of Bethlehem and Christ.

The man who has had God’s experience never de-pends on arguments or expe-riences of others. What it costs is what is seen. Paul did not try an experiment, but an ex-perience. His encounter with the Holy of Holies, that day was not only terrifying, but transforming. He had a vision

Why the Revival does not arrive E. Leonard Ravenhill

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of the Lord which blinded him (a light brighter than the sun at noon.) Since then, Paul was blind to human honors and glories but recovered his sight though. («Those who do not honor you, won’t honor me», said F. B. H. Meyer)

The dream of intellectual mastery was removed from Saul by his encounter with Christ and he began traveling as a Christ’s beggar. Not before he had a new experience with God in the desert of Arabia (about which he didn’t dare to speak)

And somehow this builder of empires for Christ, with its colossal intellect and remarka-ble titles, accepted the Lord, not only as a replacement of the old, but to identify himself with Him. «I died» (in Him). This is his statement (that we all orally do) But Paul said triumphantly: «but Christ liveth in me.» Think about it. If you made a statement like this, wouldn’t your friends make fun of you? But this new Samson tore hinges and all solid doors of history and, as in the ancient Greek myth, changed the cour-se of rivers to clean the stables of corruption of the ancient world. Blessed man of God!

After finding peace with God, Paul declared war on everything that does not be-

long to God. He captured the «intelligence» of the Athenians with the sweet sounds of the Gospel’s lyre and finished his concert playing the high-pit-ched trumpet of resurrection and judgment.

What made this man mock the pagan mob’s clamors in Ephesus? Why is he willing to die every day? What is the secret of strength that reveals his biographical outline of 2 Corinthians 11? What is it that enabled him to overcome his tremendous burden? As stran-ge and incomprehensible as it may seem he did not hesitate to say it in Galatians 2:20 . Think it over: he did not declared his faith in the virgin birth of Christ, or his bodily resurrec-tion from the dead —of course, Paul believed all this— but the secret of his strength and suc-cess did not depend on his Or-thodox faith but on the phrase «Christ liveth in me» From the depth of his personal depravity («Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me» — Romans 7:17—) up to the summit of spirituali-ty («nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me» —Galatians 2:20—.) Beautiful life changing!

Paul had an exemplary life. He was not a guiding sign, but a guide: «those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me» (Philippians 4:9). He was truly an epistle «alive».

Paul’s life was exceptional: Would anyone be fool enough to say that our abnegation is like his? Shouldn’t we write, unlike him: «We all look for our own?» He was exceptio-nal because he founded many churches and wrote many epistles; read his own life’s summary in 2 Corinthians 11. Is he trying to be among the

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martyrs or be included among the saints? No way. His posi-tion, titles and privileges are considered manure in order to gain Christ, and, due to his obedience, be found in Him. He was exceptional in suffe-ring; he suffered generally by the will of others, but also in prayer by his own will. If the-re were more Christians that knew how to pray strongly, there would be more people willing to suffer. A prayer develops bones together with moans, tendons as well as ho-liness, strength and also fire.

Paul called God as a wit-ness to affirm that he wanted to be anathema for his brethren (Romans 9:3). Brainerd and John Knox were «men with same passion as us». When or where do you hear prayers like these in our prayer meetings, my brother? We cannot have great results from small pra-yers. The law of prayer is like the harvest’s law. «He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully» The problem is that we want to reap what we don’t sow .

Paul had an expansive life. Many of us, oh!, look for the remains of any other minister’s work. But Paul did not build on another man’s foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10). His brain was not stuck in any particu-lar dogma; he was not an ec-clesiastical machine analyzing thoroughly metaphysical mat-ters. He did not spend time speculating on the meaning of the Daniel’s image. He did not bury himself in a laboratory designing the truth and put-ting trademarks on theological capsules, or indulging with his ability to find appropriate

words for future creeds. The reason for this is clear as the noonday.

Paul did not write a «Life of Christ,» he demonstrated it with his statement: «I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise» (Ro-mans 1:14). And he devoted his life entirely, by all possible means, to pay this debt. This could cost him prison, but he felt that it was better to be «a pri-soner» of the Lord for a few years than let his contemporaries be prisoners of the devil in hell forever. Paul surrendered en-tirely to a complete and costly consecration. «From henceforth let no man trouble me» (Gal. 6:17). What did he mean by this? That he had devoted his life to Christ in such a way that he had no time or desire for anything else. Every beat of his heart, every thought of his mind, every step of his feet and every desire of his soul were for Christ and the salvation of men. He disturbed synagogues and had awake-nings or riots, one thing or another, and sometimes both. (We seem to have neither one nor the other.)

Even when his own group of supporters abandoned him —«all men forsook me» (2Timothy 4:16) — he trusted the «ever-lasting arms» and went along. He escaped death, but his daily bread was his daily death. «I die daily» (1 Corinthians 15:31). His was a magnificent tragedy!

But the fruits of the Spirit are on the apostle Paul, the spi-ritual gifts worked in him. He led the awakening of an entire city while he worked sewing tents to pay for his expenses! Brother preachers: Don’t we all have coward hearts, all of us, compared to Paul? He was sometimes hungry, but some-

times, when he had an abun-dance of food, he fasted vo-luntarily. He wished blessings for everyone, but for himself, he wished to be an anathema. This revolutionary life and ra-ging theology full of the Holy Spirit -also called «a show for men»- was the counterpart of the current fans of political religion on an atheist regime. People consumed by the inner fire of the Holy Spirit are the only effective counterpart of fallen humans, who as mora-lly shattered as the atom they have managed to split and with which they are capable of unleashing forces that would destroy our earth.

Paul, transformed and ready to be transferred soon to a better world, wants to have identical successors to his life style. Hear what he said befo-re King Agrippa: «I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and alto-gether such as I am, except these bonds! » (Acts 26:29.) He didn’t say that everyone could found many churches and write as he did. He didn’t say: as «I did» but «as I myself» (1 Corinthians 7:7.) And this is quite possible. The same Holy Spirit that filled Paul can fill us so that we, like him, can be identified with Christ not only in sacrifice, but all servi-ces.

What will be the outco-me or how all this will affect you, dear brother? I do not know (Neither angels nor men know.) But I can tell a possibility: it always begins with a transformed life. Paul lived gloriously and died triumphantly because his sa-crifice and suffering was fully identified with Christ. We can also live and die this way if we really want to u

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Enemies who deprive us of the blessings received“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:27-34.

WHEN WE RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we will find

in our way a number of ene-

Rev. Gustavo Martínez Garavito

mies who will fight to the end of our life. Their purpose is to deprive us of the privileges of joy, peace, mental harmony,

and many blessings that God has given us.

People think that blessings are only money, property, and so on. No, they are not. There are many millionaires around the world who live misera-bly dragged into the spiritual realm, they have no peace or joy, they do not know what to do or who to turn to, although they seemingly have it all, they do not have the greatest wealth which is the Lord.

The mere fact of being healthy, makes us feel blessed. I think that health is greater than any material good. I’ve

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talked to some people who have reached a terminal sta-ge; they say that they would give everything they have to be healed. “For one more year of life I would give this pro-perty,” someone once told me, and I said, “This person never understood and when he goes through this, only then, he values what he does not have anymore.”

We have read a few verses about a blessed man, Esau, who had been granted the pri-vilege of being the firstborn son. He received a number of benefits, but the enemy took advantage of this man becau-se he was weak at a time of his life.

I. FATIGUE, AN ENEMYFatigue is the lack of strength that comes to the person after making a physical, intellec-tual, or emotional effort.

Paul says, “lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). I am concerned that the Church carries on so much activity, that sometimes she does not have enough time to rest or seek God as she should, and that so much activism falls into fatigue where many others have fallen.

Esau was tired, hungry and desperate. Esau despised what God had given him, gi-ving little value to the blessing of God, and therefore he lost at once what God had given him.

Fatigue also leads to a deep sleep and makes us vul-nerable, exposes us to death, disarms us and makes us de-fenseless. When Saul was ti-red of chasing David, he and his men entered the cave and all of them fell asleep. “So David took the spear and the cruse of water from

Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked” (1 Samuel 26:12).

Fatigue can affect your spi-ritual life, because you will stop praying, you will stop preparing yourself for this spiritual battle or for giving fresh food to the congregation. Although a man acts as a man of inspiration, an active man, a living man; fatigue can lead many men to sleep when they kneel at the altar. We know of Pastors who were kneeling, supposedly in a deep rela-tionship with God, and were found asleep at the altar.

Maybe you sleep little for reasons such as spending a lot of time on the internet, watching television for many hours, or for other reasons. The truth is that this situation is leading many men to spiri-tual ruin, to a loss of sense of responsibility, and above all, to a loss of inspiration. Becau-se there must be something that motivates us to do what we are doing with inspiration in the most simple and humble place, that inspires us to pray, study the Word, advice, visit someone, pray for the sick, go out and preach. When that exists, we feel alive, useful and young. When a man is young, he gets tired very little, but when he loses inspiration, and even if he is twenty years old, he will look like he is around a hundred years because there is nothing that motivates him to serve or seek God.

People realized that the fatigue of Moses was fatal for them, because when he let his hands down, the enemy, Amalek, prevailed, causing great havoc. Those who were close to Moses put him on a stone and helped him to hold

his arms, and so Israel de-feated its enemies, God gave them the victory (Exodus 17:8-16).

In Isaiah 40:28-31 it is sta-ted that God “fainteth not, neither is weary. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increa-seth strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

II. ANXIETY, ANOTHER ENEMY

“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint” (Genesis 25:29). Esau arrived very tired from the country, but in addition to that fati-gue there was another enemy, anxiety, which is desire and despair.

Anxiety is harmful, it limits us in every way, it limits our mind, it restricts our vision, it deprives us of achieving what we really want, it deprives us of continuing, it takes away our encouragement, and it pa-ralyzes us.

In Matthew 6:25-34 the Lord tells us: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. The-refore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Whe-rewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous-ness; and all these things shall be added unto you.Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

The effort is a demonstra-tion of mistrust in the Lord, or a demonstration that we

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are not people of faith. Anxie-ty is also a state of inner rest-lessness, volatility, unease, which invade the mind to that point that leaves no exit. The-refore, feeling too anxious or too worried is dangerous be-cause it involves getting out of bounds. What can help us not to fall into desperation? Faith, patience and knowing that everything has its time and that everything is under God’s control.

We have to wait as the far-mer who sows the seed and has to wait a period of time for the seed to bear fruit, the result that he longs (2 Timothy 2:6). Some things cannot hap-pen at the drop of a hat. For example, God could tell you about terrible things, but He cannot do it right now, becau-se maybe you are not ready or mature enough or you do not have any baggage or expe-rience.

When Esau falls into anxie-ty, he tells Jacob, “And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee”. The word “pray” shows despe-ration, desire and anxiety; he could not wait anymore. The-re are leaders who want to have everything built the next day, and who want to have everything that others have managed to build after thirty or forty years. Do not be ambi-tious, everything has its time, let God prepares you, and wait for you to mature and acquire stability in all aspects.

III. SEDUCTION, NOTHER ENEMY

“And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint” (Genesis 25:30). Esau asked for food, he saw that the pottage was attractive and red.

Seduction means fascination, attraction of a thing or person.

James says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:13-14). Seduction is like a power-ful and strong magnet that is placed and begins to attract the metal; in our case, seduc-tion begins to attract what is within us, it depends on what is in our hearts. Christ said: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21).

Esau is seduced by the smell and the color. And you and I must be very careful with this subtle and dange-rous enemy, because we can be seduced by the opposite sex; we can be attracted by love for money; we can be at-tracted by the prestige, etc.

Exodus 32, tells us that the people of Israel was seduced by the terrible desire to wor-ship an idol, and they told Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” (vs. 1). Aaron was also sedu-ced due to his lack of belief in God and His Word. He asked them for gold and built a bu-llock for them (vs. 2-6).

King David was enticed, incited by Satan to register the people. Joab told him that this was not very important, he told him not to do it. But since David was the king, he pre-vailed. You can imagine what God had to do; there was ha-voc in the village, the people was the victim, and then the king himself recognized his mistake.

David also was seduced by a woman he saw when she ba-

thed. He committed adultery and then he murdered the husband of that woman. Da-vid did not mind anything, he had lost sensitivity and he had been the victim of seduction. Thus, there are many peo-ple who no longer care about their family, wife, children, ministry, or consequences of their actions.

IV. THE LACK OF VIEW, ANOTHER ENEMY

“And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? (vs. 31-32). Thus, there are many peo-ple who have been deprived of their view by the fatigue, anxiety and seduction.

There are many people who are the victim of indiffe-rence, they do not mind living without view, without projec-tion. These leaders are indi-fferent and cold, they do not have love or feelings, they do not care if people do not con-vert after a month or whether or not there are baptisms in the church, they do not have a program of evangelism, they have limited themselves, and they do not campaign for not investing. These people do not care about assistance, what matters to them is mo-ney, they do not project them-selves in the spiritual realm or in the ministerial field, they project in the material field. The lack of view is preven-ting the spiritual and minis-terial growth and the growth at the congregational level, so there is no leadership develo-pment because people are not thinking about building other congregations or raising other leaders, they are thinking about themselves. Thus there

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are many who fall into adul-tery and steal money from the Church.

V. ESAU DESPITED GOD’S BLESSINGS

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright” (Ge-nesis 25:34). He only cared about eating and drinking. There are many people who only care about eating and

drinking, they just live in the moment.

Esau did not think that that food would only hold him for a few hours, and that then he would be hungry again. He did not think about the futu-re, he did not realize that he could not die, because the hu-man body is able to withstand several days. This does not mean that if you feel a little weak, you will die; that’s a lie of the devil! The fact that you

do not have food now and that you are going through hard times does not mean that you will die; and the fact that you are hungry all the time does not mean that you will feel cold or warm; different times will come, that is not so important, what matters is the life in God.

You, worker for God, value the great privileges that God has given you. Brother, seek the fire of God every day u



EVENTS

A quick report of the work that Worldwide Missionary Mo-

vement is making in America and throughout the world. The

Holy Bible states: “And they, continuing daily with one accord

in the temple... And the Lord added to the church daily such

as should be saved”. (Acts 2:46,47)

Glorious National Convention in ColombiaGod’s power manifested itself during the eight-day mega event of the Worldwide Missionary Movement held in Colombia.

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THE CHURCHES of the Worldwide Missio-nary Movement in

Colombia held their Na-tional Convention from January 6 to January 13 in the city of Medellin. Due to the great number of attendees to this magnifi-cent event, it had to be di-vided into two parts: the first one brought together all the members of the churches located south of the country from January 6 to January 9, and the second one gathered the members of the chur-ches located north from January 10 to January 13.

This activity was at-tended by most part of the International Board:

Rev. Gustavo Martínez, Rev. José Soto, Rev. Rubén Concepción, Rev. Rodol-fo González, Rev. Álvaro Garavito, Rev. Humber-to Henao, Rev. Margaro Figueroa. Rev. Rómulo Vergara could not attend the event due to health reasons.

Both during the first and second convention, a worker promotion worship was held. 193 brothers were introduced as lay preachers, 121 lay preachers were promo-ted to licensed preachers, and 68 licensed preachers were promoted to ordai-ned ministers. Further-more, it was announced

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the inauguration of 71 new churches.

God’s power manifes-ted itself through extraor-dinary miracles in many sick bodies: deaf people could hear, tumors disap-peared, blind people could see, and those with heart conditions were healed, among others.

A delegation of more than 100 brothers from Peru participated in this convention, including all the members of the Natio-nal Board of the neighbo-ring country, presbyters, pastors, and brothers. This great event was also attended by the National Supervisor of Brazil, and by delegations from Ve-nezuela, Guatemala and Ecuador.

The music and songs played and sung by the congregation had a great spiritual impact on peo-ple. We highlight the great improvement of the Joram Orchesta and the different brothers who used by God sang specials during these days.

In the last service of the morning, Rev. Rubén Con-cepción, International Se-cretary of the International Board of the WMM, was the bearer of God’s mes-sage. The theme, based on Ezekiel 1:1 was “State and privilege of those called to service”. Through the message, Rev. Concepción announced that only the presence of the Holy Spirit strengthens our lives. He also explained about the spiritual position of Pro-

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The International Board Members of the Work led the National Convention in Colombia, which gathered together thousands of brothers from all regions of this country.

EVENTS



phet Ezekias during his captivity in Babylon.

Finally, in the last clo-sure service, Rev. Gus-tavo Martínez Garavito, International President of the International Board of the WMM, preached the Word of God with the the-me “How to get out of the spiritual drought” based on 1 Kings 18:41-46.

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longing for the Word of God but for other things. It is not God’s will that we live in defeat. His want us to live; He will lift us up. The valley of the dry bo-nes talks about dryness, and only the Word of God gave live to the valley. The Lord wants us to stop the drought: no more death or defeat u

Throughout his prea-ching of the Word of God, he talked about the spiri-tual drought. Droughts bring hunger, devasta-tion and death. Spiritual drought appears when we lack fervor, lose the fervor of visiting God’s House, and lose the affec-tion to His Word. Spiri-tual drought means not

How to overcome spiritual drought was one of the most important messages on the Convention, which allowed a glorious encounter with the Lord.

EVENTS



THIS YEAR’S FIRST CONVENTION of the Worldwide Mis-

sionary Movement’s Work, which historica-lly takes place on the island of Puerto Rico –

National Convention in Puerto RicoThe glorious 51st National Convention of the Worldwide Missionary Movement in Puerto Rico was held under the theme: CONVICTION 2014.

the Work’s headquarters – was held in at Ruben Zayas coliseum in Truji-llo Alto among an atmos-phere of joy and blessing, with a new working the-me: CONVICTION 2014.

The celebration las-ted until January 4, 2014. Those days were full of enthusiasm and dedi-cation, attended by de-legations that came to the venue from different

parts of the island and the world.

This convention had the honor to be attended by all members of the International Board of Directors – chaired by its President Rev. Gustavo Martinez –, the National Board and its president and national supervisor, Rev. Luis Ayala.

Rev. Gustavo Marti-nez was in charge of the message of the Word of God during the first night based on Daniel 1:1-9. He

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preached under the the-me “A man of conviction stands firm”, stressing the importance of having conviction in what God’s Word states. During the preaching, the Lord began to move powerfully in a special way as phrases like “we will stay faithful to Jehovah, we will worship God” came out from the lips of the international president. Undoubtedly, that first night marked the beginning of the celebra-tion in a special way.

The second service of this great activity took place on Thursday 2 un-der the glory of God. It started with worship in the morning, and con-tinued with songs, and

testimonies from distant lands, such as Dominican Republic, Panama and the United States of America. The glorious Word was brought by beloved Rev. Enrique Centeno from

Bogota, Colombia, un-der the theme “The most illustrious man,” based on Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4.

On the evening of the same day, the conven-

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tion continued in a larger atmosphere of blessing when God’s glory filled the coliseum through the songs and worship of God. Rev. Humberto Henao, In-ternational Director, was responsible for the prea-ching of the night under the theme “The Impor-tance of Christian Convic-tions,” based on Jeremiah 35:1-14. He urged the people not to lower their guard and stand firm.

Friday morning, the young people held a ser-vice to God. After the de-

votional time and eager to hear the Word of God, they received the mes-sage from Rev. Santos Gomez from Dominican Republic. He preached on the theme: “An Unautho-rized Fire,” based on Le-viticus 10:1-3. He talked about the consequences of offering sacrifices to God under inappropriate conditions, and about the things that get us spiritua-lly “drunk” and drag us away from what God pla-ced in young people’s li-ves to fulfill His purpose.

Friday night the festi-vity continued when the Coral Odas al Rey sang a praise to God under the theme: “The Great I Am,” after which an objective lesson entitled “Based on God’s Vision” was gi-ven emphasizing Puerto Rico’s uprising to the na-tions.

During the exposition of the Word of God, Rev. Rodolfo Gonzalez prea-ched under theme “Faith is the certainty of what we hope for, the convic-tion of what we do not

see,” based on Hebrews 11:1 The sermon that night was addressed to the spiritual life of every listener, as he urged to stand firm in God’s will.

The Worker Service Promotion, a very special service that shows the de-velopment of the Work and the servants of God, took place on Saturday morning. That day, Rev. Alberto Ortega was in charge of preaching the Word of God under the theme “Change of Work,” based on Samuel 22.

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Then the acts of wor-kers recognition, promo-tion and ordination conti-nued as Sister Jacqueline Rovira, Secretary of the National Board of WMM in Puerto Rico, introdu-ced a beautiful group of five brothers who beca-me Lay Preachers, and two pastors who were or-dained to Full Ministry. It was a very emotional promotion in which the International President, Rev. Gustavo Martinez, and other International Officers and Directors

participated by praying and urging the chosen ones to perform their res-pective ministerial work.

CLOSURE NIGHTThe last night of the Na-tional Convention of WMM in Puerto Rico gathered again people with high expectations. The Word of God was spread by Rev. José A. Soto, International Offi-cer, who preached under the theme “A Belligerent Preacher,” based on Ju-das 1:16-23.

During the messa-ge, he urged people to be belligerent against all the worldly things nowadays trying to enter the congregations. After the message, Rev. Jorge Alvarez gave important announcements related to international officers of the Work, including the appointment of Rev. Ru-ben Concepción as new International Secretary and the appointment of Rev. Alvaro Garavito as Missionary Supervisor in northern Central Ame-

rica. All God’s people and the Lord’s ministers at this activity accepted with pleasure these an-nouncements, recogni-zing that it all aims at strengthening the entire Work of God.

This convention was broadcast through Bethel TV and the webpage of the Work in Puerto Rico, among others, thanks to the group of Grabaciones Impacto, which along with brother Angel Lemuel Caban, Team Director, worked hard on this beautiful party u

EVENTS



THE FIRST COUNTRY VISITED was Philip-pines, where the

continuous growth of the Work is evident. The two sisters in charge of the work in that coun-try, Deyle Yurley Lagua-do Carreño and Greisis Hernández Vidés, keep working arduously to consolidate the church. The group in Quezon City is growing stronger,

and there is a Bible School for Kids held every Satur-day. The brothers have matured and continue working for the evange-lism to reach others for Christ.

In Antipolo, a town on the outskirts of Mani-la, the Work is also being strengthened. During the trip, Pastor Samuel Da-vid Mejía baptized four brothers in that place.

Missionary Visit to Philippines, Myanmar and MalaysiaLast November 19, 2013, Pastor Samuel David Mejía, Supervisor of the WMM in Asia, started a missionary tour to visit these three countries and help strengthen the work there. .

mony was held for the brothers from the Elim Bible Institute who want to serve the Work of the Lord.

In Malaysia, special worships with the chur-ches and meetings with the leaders were held at least twice a day, so as to help strengthen and expand the work in that country. Pastor Murasu-rajan has the great vision of opening more temples in this country, which is purely Muslim.

There is a new whi-te champ in the city of Kuala Lumpur, which was also visited during the tour and where many people gathered to hear the message of the Word of God u

In Myanmar, the Work is also growing. There, teaching sessions were held with the workers and leaders who came from different parts of the country and from the surrounding area of Yan-gon. A pastors meeting was also held to answer to their concerns.

On Sunday morning, during the missionary visit, a graduation cere-

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ON DECEMBER 28, 2013, Baptisms in Water were held in Añi-

sok, Republic of Equato-rial Guinea. It was atten-

ded by the brothers from the different Zone 3 chur-ches of the WMM Work, all led by presbyter Rev. Paulino Nguema.

Baptism in Water in Equatorial GuineaThe WMM held glorious Baptisms in Water in Zone 3, Republic of Equatorial Guinea. 25 brothers became members of our Church.

Mongomo district atten-ded with 3 brothers to be baptized; and the organi-zing Church of Añisok dis-trict, led by pastor Jaime Esono, was present with 7 candidates. In total, 25 brothers became members of our church.

The preacher was Pastor Emilio Ndong. Pastors Pauli-no Nguema, presbyter of the zone, and Jaime Esono, host pastor, were the baptizers during this celebration u

The Church of Evina-yon district, led by Sister Encarnación, were repre-sented by a group of 15 brothers; the Church of

EVENTS



THE CHURCHES of Presb-ytery North arrived one after another to

support this great event. More than 500 people gathered in the same feeling.

On Friday, December 6, the bearer of the Word of God was Pastor Leonel Cedeño, Official of the

Work in Italy and pastor of the Church of Bérgamo, with the theme “The be-nefits of suffering”, based on Job 5:6-8:. He explained that suffering carries many benefits that we cannot identify because of the pain we feel; however, God uses the suffering to be closer to us and keep us humble.

Fellowship of Presbytery North, ItalyThe event was held under the theme: “Go beyond what you believe”. More than five hundred people attended the fellowship.

Lord himself has given us abilities and talents for us to go beyond.

In the second service, some specials were pre-sented and the edifying message was given by Rev. David Echalar, Supervisor of Italy, under the theme “Worshippers wanted”, based on John 4:22-24. He said: “Nowadays, there is a lack of worshippers. Some people sing beautifully, but they don’t praise or wors-hip God the way He wants us to”. He also claimed that we have to know how to worship God because praise and adoration are very important u

On Saturday morning, Rev. Hugo Lope, National Treasurer and Presbyter of the North Zone, preached the Word of God under the theme “If you don’t awake you won’t go beyond”, based on Luke 18.8. He pointed out that God has brought us together for great things, because the

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ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, the Church of the Worldwide Mis-

sionary Movement in Chile held an evangelical march under the theme: “Chile, Jesus-Christ is the Solution”. The event took place in the community of La Pintana, an hour away

Evangelical March in ChileThe Worldwide Missionary Movement in the city of Santiago held an evangelical march under the theme: “Chile, Jesus-Christ is the Solution.”

from the center of the city of Santiago.

The tour started in the white champ of Villa La Paz (Intersection of Las Golondrinas and Los Fla-mengos 1690) and ended in the white champ of San-to Tomás (Intersection of General Arriaga and Las Parcelas 0907). During this two-hour tour, people of all ages praised the Lord with tambourines and bass drum, and testified to the power of God that changed their lives. The event gathe-red 60 brothers who wore shirts with the theme of the march printed on them u

EVENTS



Others Events

VENEZUELA URUGUAI ARGENTINABOLÍVIAGLORIOUS BAPTISMS IN CARACAS On Saturday, November 30, 2013, the baptisms of Zone 1 took place in a pool in Tacagua, Caracas, Venezuela. Pastors from churches Las Adjuntas, Petare, Silencio, Junquito km 11 and km 24, Colonia Tovar, Baruta, El Valle, La Castellana and Catia brought along a beautiful group of brothers to publicly express the change made in their lives. The service started in the morning with a devotional. Afterwards, Rev. Ricardo Manrique, National Supervisor, expressed his congratulations to each of the brothers descending into the waters by making a thanksgiving pray to the Lord. Then, Sister Gladys de Man-rique, wife of the Supervisor, called each brother taking part of this great blessing. The great commission was thus fulfilled. The presbyter of Zone 1, Rev Faustino Ollarves, together with the pastors and the Supervisor, w responsible of submerging the brothers into the water.

BAPTISM IN WATERBy the end of 2013, the Church of the Worldwide Missionary Movement in Bolivia held a glorious baptism in water, in which more than fifty brothers descended into the waters of baptism to live in saintliness and leave the passing plea-sures of sin behind. All these lives transformed by the power of God are willing to work hard for the evangelization in their country and all nations.This solemn ceremony was presided by Rev. Enrique Valenzuela Saavedra, Member of the National Board of the Worldwide Missionary Move-ment in Bolivia and Presbyter of Oruro.

FELLOWSHIP IN SARANTÍ DE YÍFrom December 14 to December 15, 2013, a fellowship was held by the Church of the Worldwide Missionary Movement in Saran-tí de Yi, Durazno (three hours from Montevideo).The pastor in charge is Gustavo Quiñones. Among the atten-dees, we found brothers from the Churches of Montevideo, Cerro Largo and Canelones. Previously, an evangelization was held in the streets to invite people to this event. The message of the Word was brought by Rev. Alfonso Martínez, National Supervisor of the Work in Uruguay, under the theme “In Love with God and His Word.” The message was addressed to the attending youth.The Mayor of the city provi-ded assistance to the church by lending mattresses for the brothers who came from other departments. The commissioner of the city expressed his support as well and highlighted the importance of the Church in the society.

NEW WORK IN MONTE CASEROSThe National Supervisor of the WMM, Rev. Ismael E. Parrado, visited the city of Monte Case-ros, in the province of Corrien-tes, where a new church has been established.Pastor Parrado, his wife, and a group of brothers visited the place, and, after spending three days there, they decided to confirm this new Church of the Worldwide Missionary Move-ment in Argentina. A worker from the Church of Buenos Aires was assigned to take over this work starting February.In the meanwhile, the Pastor from the Church of Corrientes will carry out worships weekly.It should be pointed out that the National Supervisor of the Work in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Rev. Alfonso Mar-tínez, attended the event on this occasion. He and his wife came from the city of Bella Union, Uruguay, where a new church is being built.

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“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14.

The Marvels of the Human Body

LET’S read a little about the life of an average baby girl in the Western

world: “Her first words will be uttered about 12 months after birth, and by the age of six she will have mastered the essentials of language. This skill is so important, that up to ten years of her life will be spent talking” (Anthony Smith, The Human Body, 1998, pp. 7-8). Although the animal world has many means of crude communica-tion, we are the only species possessing advanced langua-ge skills.

“What a piece of work is man,” wrote William Shakes-peare, “How noble in rea-son! How infinite in faculty!” Yet in spite of all our noble

AMENITIES

Scientists are beginning to discover that the human body has no superfluous or-gans. “Biologists have often been puzzled by seemin-gly meaningless parts of the body, only to find later they do serve an important function. Take the thymus for example. Until quite re-cently it was dismissed as a useless survival of an earlier age of development, but it is now known to be the control centre of the body’s defence system against germs. Tonsils and adenoids were often re-moved from children, becau-se they were thought to serve no function. Now we realize they help to protect the nose and throat against infection” (John Allan, The Human Di-fference, 1989, p. 45).

Consider the human hand. No other species can even be-gin to equal humanity’s ma-nual skills. “The human hand is capable of both brute stren-gth and incredible finesse. It carries out hard labour yet is sensitive to nuances of textu-re and form, so much so that it can serve as a substitute eye to the blind...The human hand is unique in having two distinct grips...Not only can several items such as coins be held firmly in the palm with several fingers but also, si-multaneously, the opposable thumb can be used to hold and turn a car key” (Smith, The Human Body, p. 132).

Yet almost all picture books about the human body readily attribute its marvels to the chance mutations of evolution. Very few seem to say with King David, “I will praise You, for I am fearfu-lly and wonderfully made” (Psalm:139:14) u

achievements, what happens within our bodies even when we are relaxing “is a secret from us” (Smith, p. 8). Even when “sitting down to read a book, our body is vigilant and busy. Nerve endings in the skin send signals to the brain to ensure that we are sitting comfortably in the chair, and we absent-minde-dly tug at the cushions until the message says our position is satisfactory” (ibid.).



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CLAUDIAEvery time I read the magazine I consider it a great blessing. From Chile.

HERMINIO AVALOSI would like to know more about the messages in the different magazines, since the world needs nowadays the Word of God. God bless you. From Chiapas, Mexico.

YESENIAHello, brothers. God bless you for the great work that you are taking to the world thanks to the Impacto Evangelistic magazine. By reading this magazine, many lives have surrendered to the Lord. God bless you, brothers, go ahead with this mission. From Marquez, Callao, Peru.

SEBASTIÁN RAMÍREZGod bless you. I thank God for this magazine that is a blessing and has been able to keep the sound doctrine. I am from the Church of the WMM in Olarte neighborhood in Bogota. From Bogota, Colombia.

THEY WRITE TO [email protected]

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JANUARY1-4 CONVENTION IN PUERTO RICO7-14 CONVENTION IN COLOMBIA

FEBRUARY7-9 CONVENTION IN PARAGUAY (ASUNCIÓN)13-16 CONVENTION IN ARGENTINA (BUENOS AIRES) 20-23 CONVENTION IN BELIZE

MARCH1-4 CONVENTION IN PANAMA19-22 CONVENTION IN HONDURAS

APRIL16-20 CONVENTION IN GUATEMALA17-20 NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP IN AUSTRALIA (SIDNEY)

MAY3-5 CONVENTION IN JAPAN20-25 CONVENTION IN PERU (LIMA)

JUNE25-29 CONVENTION IN INDIA17-20 YOUTHS AND WORKERS CONVENTION IN COLOMBIAJULY3-6 CONVENTION IN BOLIVIA (SANTA CRUZ)8-11 CONVENTION IN UNITED STATES (BIRMINGHAM, AL)8-12 CONVENTION IN COSTA RICA9-12 CONVENTION IN NETHERLANDS ANTILLES (CURAÇAO)24-27 CONVENTION IN MEXICO (GUANAJUATO)

AUGUST3-6 CONVENTION IN EL SALVADOR5-9 CONVENTION IN VENEZUELA (BARQUISIMETO)7-10 CONVENTION IN SPAIN14-17 CONVENTION IN ITALY14-17 CONVENTION IN GUYANAS, SURINAME & TRINIDAD (SURINAME)14-17 CONVENTION IN ECUADOR (GUAYAQUIL)27-30 CONVENTION IN AFRICA28-31 CONVENTION IN HAITI

SEPTEMBERSATURDAY 27 INTERNATIONL MISSIONS DAY

OCTOBER10-12 NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP IN CANADA 23-25 CONVENTION IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC23-26 CONVENTION IN ISLANDS OF MAURITIUS26-28 CAMPAIGN IN MADAGASCAR30-2 (NOV) CONVENTION IN CHILE (SANTIAGO)

NOVEMBER7-10 CONVENTION IN URUGUAY (MONTEVIDEO)27-30 CONVENTION IN NICARAGUA

DECEMBER4-7 CONVENTION IN BRAZIL (MANAUS)

GLOBALAGENDA 2014

n Events

Founder Director: Rev. Luis M. Ortiz Editorial board: Rev. Luis Meza Bocanegra, Jacqueline Rovira, Samuel Martínez, Rev. Andrés Espejo Editorial coordinator: Rev.

Julián Morón General editor: Víctor Tipe Sánchez Editor: Jaime Tipe Sánchez Graphic editor: Roberto Guerrero Graphic design: Adolfo Zubietta Writers: Johan Pérez Landeo,

Marlo Pérez. Designers: Lesly Sánchez, Cesia Heredia. Web master and Infographics: Julio de la Cruz. Illustration: Julio Limachi.

Transcription: Fanny Vidal, Ana Rodriguez. Community manager: Juan Becerra, Denisse Barrientos. Distribution: Javier Arotinco.

evangelistic

february 2014 67

Visit the church of the Worldwide Missionary Movement.Visit the web page and find the address of the temples in your country. God bless you!

MOVIMENTO MISSIONÁRIO MUNDIAL

God’s love gives life toyour family

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