2020, new year, new phase!

No, this time not any pictures of me or others. Not any videos either… less media. When you are working with people you really care for, posting about them feels just like a sin. I know this sounds strong, but I don’t mean this about others, just for myself. I work with them because I care for them, not to fill out posts and drag attention.

2019 has been a very special year. I have not focused on the work of evangelism, I hardly traveled. I was mostly home, working on our local community. Trying to grow in shepherding, teaching, building the community, strengthening brothers. A very rewarding work, that I think should remain anonymous. Many personal stories, growth, threats from the darkness, fear, confusion, joy, revelations, tears, faith, laughter… all of it to the 100%. Intense would be a nice description of last year.

Switching gears

One of the craziest (and hardest) experiences this year was to get used to a new way to work for the Lord. This time He gave me freedom to make my own choices in many areas, and He just let me know what He was going to do, or wanted to get done. I should find the way to serve Him in those needs.

I am used to be following specific instructions, now He allowed me to make my own choices. Nonetheless, I felt the Father was observing my choices and my motives. It has been a time of self-discovery, with many changes. As I look back to it now, I feel blessed and happy. But when we had to go through it, it was very tough -at a personal and family levels.

Kingdom Focus

This year brought me also to the choice of launching this website, and focus on this branch of apostolic work. For those not familiar with what I mean by apostolic, I mean to focus on the full expectrum of fulfilling the Great Commission: go, baptize, and teach to obey everything the Lord commanded. Then send them as well.

A lot of discovery, experimentation, surrendering, acting. We finally got to this point where this website and its content were ready, and all the videos were ready like in about three days with very little planning. I am blessed to hear testimonies from many local workers who have been trememdously blessed by this work, and that is my reward and joy.

Jesus

The greates of all things has been the re-discovery of Jesus. To long to tell the story in detail, but the Lord showed me, in His incredible mercy, that all what we do has to do with our love and passion for the person of the resurrected Jesus Christ. We can do all things right, bring a lot of “results” from our work, baptize masses of people, teach thousands, plant many churches, but if Jesus is not the center of our message, we are just spreading a man-made religion and creating -again- a Christian culture without Christ.

One of the turning points that brought a clear reference to me was listening to an excerpt of Francis Chan preaching. He said something like this: what if you get to Heaven, and there is no guilt, pain, sadness, no fear, no hunger, no suffering, no night. It’s all joy and abundance, all peace and security. Would it even matter to you that Jesus is there? Or was it all just about you making it to Heaven?

That made me realize that I was spending more time serving Him than seeking Him. More time understanding Him than loving Him. I changed my prayers and Bible reading to “God, please reveal your Son to me.” He did that. It’s a process though, we need to keep on seeking, invest time, meditate on His words and actions. But it makes sense, total sense.

Finances

For those who have listened to my teachings, you might know by now that I don’t believe that living by faith means quitting your job and selling your house. In Scriptures, living by faith is the opposite of living by the law. Nothing to do with finances.

Nonetheless, of course the Lord can provide if He calls us… and sends us. Which is where many make terrible mistakes, sending themselves and almost challenging God to provide for them.

I have been three years working entirely for the Kingdom of our Lord, without a job, because He sent me to do that in 2015. But we need to be obedient both ways: to quit, or to work. So in 2019 I started working again. There is a very long testimony behind it, but I won’t talk about it here. It’s a job I have no education for, so I am underpaid and do the unpleasant side of it, but it is a great blessing that gives me flexibility, provision, and helps me tremendously in disciple-making.

Elders

The last great update of 2019 is that we have beginning training the first team of elders for our local community. A delicate topic, beautiful to rediscover in Scripture and to put to practice. We are still on diapers-phase, but it is a passionate thing to do.

Well, that was enough for one year updates. A lot has been learned, and comes a lot to learn and do. But all close to our Lord Jesus, the Annointed One, the Messiah. I will try to take more disciplined time to update the Courses and this blog page, so stay in touch!