December 2015 Update

Greetings in the name of our glorious God and Savior Jesus Christ! We are thankful for the continued prayers and support of our brothers and sisters as we continue to labor in Mexico for the sake of the Name. Here is a brief update on some of our recent activities.
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An Addition to the Family!

We were blessed on November 18 of this year of our Lord, 2015, with the birth of our daughter, Ariella Christiana Urban. Though there were some complications with the birth giving rise to the need of a cesarean, the Lord gave much grace and Lina is recuperating. I've been able to spend a lot of time with Josiah recently as I've had to care for him while Lina recovers from the surgery and gets back to her routine. We are praising God for granting us another child!

​Second Annual Conference in Guadalajara

Recently, in November, our ministry Cristianismo Bíblico hosted its Second Annual Conference in Guadalajara. It was held on a large campground outside of Guadalajara and consisted of 4 days of teaching and fellowship. We had a wonderful time with all the brothers and sisters who came from diverse places in Mexico and as far as the USA, Colombia, Cuba and Spain! 

The conference theme was, "Biblical Creationism and the Cross of Christ". Our special guest was the team from Answers in Genesis: Steve Ham (Ken's brother), Dr. Terry Mortensen (a Geologist) and Joe Owen (Director for Hispanic Outreach). Here's a pic of them with little Alex:

These men did a great job at clearly explicating their themes with some excellent graphic presentations, which covered topics such as, "The Importance of Genesis", "The Origin of the Supposed Races", "Adam, Cavemen and the Gospel", "Noah's Flood and the Fossil Record" and "The Dinosaurs", among others. Evolutionary ideas and Darwinistic theories are highly influential even in Latin America, so the themes were timely and well received by the brethren. There were a number of youth who were especially impacted by the teachings.

What's more, these men did a great job at upholding the authority and priority of Scripture in apologetics and at incorporating the Gospel into their messages, which thrilled my heart as God's Word and Son were glorified, starting at the first verse in the Bible! I, in turn, was able to present a few messages during the conference on "Foundational Presuppositions for a Biblical Worldview", "From Creation to the Consummation: A Biblical Theology of Christ as the Last Adam" and on "What is the Gospel?", which focused on beholding the glory and all-sufficiency of Christ as the sum of the Gospel and the importance of union with Christ in justification, as I ended the conference with an evangelistic appeal.

I was especially encouraged by the large amount of sound literature that was sold during the conference. Titles by Spurgeon, Thomas Watson, Boston, Alleine, Brooks, Bunyan, R.C. Sproul, Piper, MacArthur, Sam Waldron, Berkhof, Hendriksen, Hodge, Calvin, etc. all flew like hot cakes! It is a well-known fact that Mexican culture is not given to much reading. This has always been a struggle that affects the health of our churches, because brethren just tend to not be very studious. But seeing brethren stand in line for literally an hour and a half to access the book table once we opened it, and then seeing the HUNDREDS of books completely sell out, greatly encouraged my heart!

​One of our major burdens is to cultivate and facilitate more of a culture of reading sound literature in our churches, so this is a good sign that the Word being preached is cultivating hunger in the brethren to study theology more deeply! Along these lines, we have some major projects in the works, which we hope to announce soon!

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During the weekend, Hector Bustamante and I were able to host a forum discussion on the current state of Reformed evangelicalism in Latin America with a group of about 100 select men from the churches. We discussed the awakening to Reformed soteriology taking place in Latin America as an encouraging sign of God's hand at work but then discussed at length our concerns about some of the deficiencies of this Neo-Calvinistic movement. We had a good heart-to-heart discussion with these men over the course of a couple hours and were able to call attention to some sorely needed truths that are being neglected in this movement, even as we emphasized the importance of certain aspects of historic theology, Puritan theology, experiential piety, family worship, biblical ecclesiology and missing emphases in preaching that are being neglected in our day. Here's a pic:

In all, we had 700-800 persons show up over the course of the weekend. But more importantly, we were able to proclaim the Gospel with clarity, equip the saints with a biblical apologetic on the history of origins, exult in our risen Lord through some Spirit-enabled worship, hymn-singing and prayer meetings, and enjoy some glorious fellowship around the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ as we exhorted one another to love and good works!

​Expository Unfolding of the Word of God

One of the most rewarding studies I've ever done has to do with the current series I'm preaching through the book of Romans in Guadalajara. We're currently in Chapter 5 and last Sunday, I just finished sermon #45 in this series. Prior to this, I also had a considerable time preaching through the book in other churches. I've found the commentaries by John Murray, Charles Hodge and Robert Haldane to be especially rewarding (my top 3 fav's) but I'm also studying Calvin's, Tom Schreiner's, Hendriksen's, Doug Moo's, Everett Harrison's, Kent Hughes', Sproul's, MacArthur's, Barnes', Lenski's, Matthew Henry's and Luther's. I'm also listening to Piper's series through the book (probably Piper's best sermon series of all time). But most rewarding of all has been the fruit of simply exegeting and then meditating on a verse or two of the text for a few hours at a time.

​As I'm preparing to preach these messages, the Lord has been invigorating my soul and feeding me with the fatness and substance of what has to be the most glorious book in Scripture! I include this in this update because one of the pressing needs of the global church is the demonstration of the expository unfolding of the Word of God with theological depth and heart-searching, applicatory exhortation. And Romans sets forth the Gospel of God with such clarity! Please help me in your prayers, that the Lord would continue to help as I seek to discover and unfold the mind of the Holy Spirit in this majestic magna carta of the Apostle Paul. (You can see some of the recent sermons here.) I've determined that one of the chief focuses of my life-long studies is going to be the book of Romans.

Hector Bustamante is currently preaching through the Sermon on the Mount in Guadalajara and 1 Peter in Mexico City. Miguel, one of our lead men in Mexico City, is preaching through the book of Ephesians. And Aaron Block just finished a series on Acts and is now preaching through the OT book of Haggai. Here's a pic of Aaron preaching in Mexico City:

This is our primary labor on the mission field: to preach the text of Scripture and watch God take the simple words we speak and thrash the gates of Hell and destroy the works of the devil and establish His Kingdom in the earth and magnify the name of Christ through it as the Spirit works with the Word to infuse spiritual life into the dead and enflame the affections of the saints' hearts with a greater love for their living Lord!

​Please pray for our day-to-day and week-to-week preaching, that we would preach with precision in light of the text, urgency in view of the great white throne, and power that proceeds from another world; that souls would be soundly saved and the saints would be soundly equipped to love and serve Christ and His church.

​A Year of Much Affliction

As many of you know, this past year has been such a difficult time for me physically as I've struggled with many persistent infirmities, ranging from this LPR condition with the accompanying sore throat and voice loss, to chronic joint pain, insomnia and a weak immune system. After visiting about 10 doctors between Mexico and the USA who were unable to help me (and actually only hurt me worse, not to mention took all my money!), I despaired of finding a remedy. I felt like the poor woman with the flow of blood who spent all her money on physicians, all to no avail! Outward there have been struggles and inwardly, fears. For a considerable period of months I was unable to travel on ministry engagements, and oftentimes even unable to preach. It's been the most difficult time of my Christian walk ever since the Lord saved me about 12 years ago, especially considering the needs of the churches and open doors for the Gospel in Latin America. It was so bad at one point that I was even seriously contemplating getting off the field, feeling utterly useless and incapable of being fruitful on the mission field. Words fail to express the discouragement, temptation and anxiety that relentlessly gripped my soul for months on end.

​And yet, if I could go back and choose any other course, I don't think I would have changed a thing. The Lord has been so gracious to teach me so much during this time. His will is truly perfect, and through my darkest moments this past year I've caught a greater glimpse of the glory and all-sufficiency of Christ and the unsurpassed excellence of the knowledge of Him in a way I had never comprehended as fully before. Though the trials have been difficult, when I was finally able to submit from the heart to the smarting rod of God's providential, Fatherly discipline and take it with joy, the Lord did a glorious work in my own heart and caused me to learn the truth of what it means to rest content in Christ, and in Christ alone, despite my circumstances. Now, so many Scriptures make so much more sense to me (like Romans 5:3-4, James 1:2-3, 12 and 1 Peter 1:6-7, among many others).

​The Lord has taught me by means of fire that it's not my abilities, gifts, privileges, influence, ministry, or even success in ministry that matters, but rather, that Christ be formed in me and that He would be my treasure, delight and reward even if everything in this world is stripped from me and this earth has no consolation to offer and there is no one by my side who is able to truly sympathize with me or console me. Affliction is one of the best things to have ever happened to me, for it has lead to a greater discovery of Christ in a way that I had not entered into in such an experiential manner previously! If suffering is the only means by which, in the all-wise providence of our heavenly Father, we can come to know Christ more fully, the outcome far surpasses the momentary price that has to be paid. For this light and momentary affliction is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory! Romans 8:29 has become so much more than a cliché to me; it has become a tried and proven reality that has sustained my soul with the goodness of God in the midst of hellish affliction, and it has proven true as I now look back over the past year and a half and reflect on the outcome, and on the greatness of God's mercy.

Thankfully, though my health conditions are lingering as a thorn in my side, they appear to be slowly and progressively improving. I've been able to travel a bit recently to preach in some other churches and in some conferences. I've also been able to preach regularly on Sundays, especially in Guadalajara, and to hold meetings and do some teaching in other venues as well as reincorporating myself into full involvement with the church. As I've discovered some new dietary habits that greatly alleviate the symptoms that most disable me, I have hope that with time, the Lord will allow me to function normally again and to preach Christ without so many physical hindrances and handicaps. In fact, by following a very strict diet, I've been able to get about 90% better, which allows me to minister with a bit of pain but at least without any major hindrance. But as long as my symptoms continue to abate with this diet, I hope to greatly expand our efforts in Mexico and Latin America in 2016. We could use your prayers for all this.

​Church Plants

Please keep our church plants in prayer, especially in Guadalajara, Mexico City, Queretaro and Toluca. Much has transpired and continues to happen; too much to write about right now! Please remember these churches and pray for leadership to be raised up!

​Other Highlights and Prayer Requests

• Hector Bustamante, the brother who has been co-laboring with us and who moved to Guadalajara last year to serve with me in an internship, is persevering and growing in grace. He has been a great help and we are seeking to cultivate his character and gifts as we confirm his pastoral gifting and he steps into pastoral ministry.
• We will probably be moving forward with an official vote for elders soon with another particular candidate in mind. Would appreciate your prayers for this.
• We have an intensive module on the Doctrine of Scripture planned for February as a part of our Theological Academy program. Our guest teacher will be Dr. Bob Gonzales, a pastor, theologian and the Dean of Reformed Baptist Seminary.
• We have a major translation project in the works and are planning on publishing books by Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Thomas Boston soon. With this, we are looking at founding our own publishing ministry as an arm of Cristianismo Bíblico.
• We are also in serious discussion with some brothers about opening up a Christian bookstore, to make sound literature available and to use our platform to promote this literature. It's not official yet but seems pretty likely.
• We are involved in a major printing and literature distribution project in Cuba that, by God's grace, has apparently had a tremendous impact on the evangelical church in Cuba, but whose ripple-effects are still playing out. We have teamed up with some pastors there who are carrying out this project within the country. Thousands of booklets, CD's and DVD's are being mailed out continually to believers and pastors all over the island. There is no corner of the country that these resources are not reaching! A group of brothers is planning on making a trip there soon to further consolidate this ministry and increase its effectiveness. Please pray for Cuba! We believe this is historic!
• I'm currently working on earning a Masters of Divinity degree through Reformed Baptist Seminary. I could use prayer for grace in my studies and for wisdom to properly balance my time between personal devotions, family, study, church, etc.
• We earnestly request prayer for the salvation of Josiah. He is 3 years old now and is understanding more and more of the Gospel as we seek to instruct him in the Word. I would rather die a thousand torturous deaths---no, a million or a billion---than to think that there have been many people saved through the instrumentality of our ministry here but that my own son finally perishes if he never comes to know the Savior! Please pray for him to be born again! I do believe it is not beyond God's power to regenerate a 3-year-old.

​Plans for 2016

We have a number of special projects that are currently in the plans. We hope to significantly expand the outreach of Cristianismo Bíblico and to produce more resources that will help equip the church to understand, embrace and proclaim the truth.​ We hope to produce more multimedia resources, launch an App for our sermon content, publish more sermon transcriptions, and make our Academy teachings more widely available via the Internet. We also hope to teach on some important subjects and get the videos, audios and transcriptions online, on such themes as Bible survey (offering a book-by-book redemptive-historical overview of the entire canon), the family (marriage, raising children, catechizing, family worship, modesty, work ethic, etc.), biblical evangelism, and a series of expositions through the 1689 London Baptist Confession. We also hope to do a series of polemical teachings on the common errors and false doctrines promoted in the name of Christianity and evangelicalism. We also hope to publish some other apologetic resources, especially focused on teaching the Van-Tilian, presuppositional approach (which is largely unknown in Latin America). 

The Lamb is worthy! Let us follow Him, proclaim Him, live for Him and die in Him! SOLI DEO GLORIA.