SER NEWS - August 2011 Vol.1#3
A News ezine from Spanish Evangelical Resources
www.Recursos-Evangelicos.org
Larry's Journal
Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ,
It is with great pleasure that we introduce Pastor Carlos Quijada as the newest member of our ministry team. He has agreed to be the Representative of Spanish Evangelical Resources in Guatemala. He will assume many of the responsibilities previously held by Cesar Rodriguez. This will allow Cesar to focus on his responsibilities as the Events Coordinator for Spanish Evangelical Resources in Guatemala.
Pastor Carlos lives in Guatemala City with his wife Loly and daughter Giselle. Pastor Carlos and his wife are both graduates of SETECA (Seminario Teológico Centroamericano) and he pastors a church in Guatemala City. The Lord gave us a double blessing with Carlos and Loly as they both teach in our pastor training seminars.
For those who prefer to communicate with someone fluent in Spanish, you can contact Pastor Carlos via the Spanish contact form on our website.
It has been a fun and exciting month for me. God blessed me with the opportunity to speak to churches of several different denominations. However, I learned long ago not to accept every invitation I receive to speak at a church. On more than one occasion, after delivering a message of sound, orthodox doctrine I have received comments that I was "legalistic", "judgmental", or just plain "old fashioned".
It doesn't hurt my feelings to be called those names. I am proud to be part of the remnant who refuses to yield to the pressure of "saying what their itching ears want to hear!" Many churches and denominations, who not long ago were considered biblically sound, have succumbed to the liberalism and false doctrines of the Emergent Church movement. The pastors and leaders of these churches and organizations have forsaken biblical truth for a false religion that appeals to mans flesh and makes no demands on him for righteous living. As a result, many Christians have been deceived and have fallen away from sound doctrine. Clearly, the apostasy spoken of by Paul and Jesus has begun (1 Tim. 4:1-2, 2 Tim. 3:1-5, 4:1-3, Matt. 24:24).
If you have any doubts about whether your church follows sound doctrine I would encourage you to examine it in light of the following five basic doctrines. If a doctrine is being taught that is different from any one of these doctrines it is in error and you should immediately bring it to the attention of the senior pastor.
1. The Trinity: There is one God existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. The Person of Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man. He was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
3. The Second Coming: Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men. The unbeliever will be assigned to eternal punishment in Hell, and the believer to eternal blessedness in heaven.
4. Salvation: Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only grounds for salvation.
5. The Scripture: The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, and the final authority for Christian faith and conduct.
Answered Prayers:
I would like to share with you some of the incredible blessings God bestowed upon our ministry in August.
1. Sixty five pastors stated they intend to attend the pastor training seminar in September.
2. The Lord provided Fernando the time and wisdom to complete and format the commentary on Acts. We will have this in print prior to my September trip to Guatemala.
3. Thirty five children attending the VBS at Miller Community Church, Bentonville, AR, donated the money to purchase one Proclaimer and two Papyrus audio players for the Quiche pastors.
4. Talala Christian Church, Talala, OK donated the money for 150 Spanish Bibles to be distributed at our evangelism events on Oct. 1 & 2 in Guatemala City.
Prayer Requests:
1. The Lord grants wisdom, guidance, anointing, good health, and safety to all those involved in the pastor training.
2. The Lord provides us with wisdom and guidance as we organize the evangelism services on October 1 & 2.
3. That many accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior at the evangelism services.
4. The Lord provides Ed with the time and wisdom to complete the proof-reading and formatting of Hebrews.
5. The Lord brings us an additional Board member from Jefferson City willing to help with the administrative tasks of the ministry.
Invitations:
Please visit the website to see what's new, and to read and refer friends the current article "Is Sunday School Still a Viable Strategy In the 21st Century?" by Dr. Bruce Morrison.
The article for September will be "Is Sunday School Still a Viable Strategy In The 21st Century?" Part 2. It is an excellent article about the role of small groups in the local church.
Thank you for supporting SER through your prayers, giving, and words of encouragement.
Your brother in Christ,
Larry
Guest Article
Is Sunday School Still A Viable Strategy
In The 21st Century? Part 1
The debate about the value of Sunday School in the local church in the 21st century continues to be discussed in pastor's meetings, leadership conferences, and churches of all sizes. The question being bantered around is "Should we continue having Sunday School or should we scrap that strategy for a small groups strategy?" Why not have both?
First, we need to understand the definitions of Sunday School and small groups. The definition of Sunday School is:
"Sunday School is the foundational strategy in a local church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building on-mission Christians through open Bible study groups that engage people in evangelism, discipleship, ministry, fellowship, and worship."
(Ten Best Practices To Make Your Sunday School Work, Ken Hemphill and Bill Taylor, LifeWay Press, 2001, Page 13).
Small groups are defined as:
"…an intentional gathering of three to twelve people who commit themselves to work together to become better disciples of Jesus Christ."
(The Big Book On Small Groups, Jeffery Arnold, Intervarsity Press, 1992, Page 9)
Now that we have defined Sunday School and small groups, we need to understand the structural differences between Sunday School and small groups. The following chart shows the major differences:
[Read the full article HERE.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Contact Larry -
The English contact form on this site forwards all messages to Larry.
Privacy Policy - Your email address WILL NOT be shared with anyone! We do NOT rent out our mailing list to others.
COPYRIGHT (c)2011 Spanish Evangelical Resources and Larry Crabtree
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~