December 2018 Update & Prayer Letter

Dear brethren and friends, 

Greetings to you. Here is an update on our recent ministerial activities for your kind consideration. (These highlights are summaries and do not follow in any systematically-connected order.)
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Bible camp event in Texas. I was able to preach several times in Spanish to this wonderful group. They are learning and growing in their knowledge of the Bible under the teaching of Benjamin Weittenhiller and kindly invited me to be the speaker at their annual camp. It was lots of fun to preach out in the open air again!

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Itinerate Ministry & Trips​

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​Here is an overview of some of my recent trips. Since the last newsletter, I've been able to preach at the following locations:

Antioch Baptist Church (Attica, MI) - This is a church in Michigan that is in the process of Reforming. I've been able to minister the Word of God to them on a couple occasions. They used to be a general Baptist church but have embraced the Doctrines of Grace and are re-consistuting on the 1689 London Confession of Faith. I was able to preach from Romans and Isaiah.

Providence Reformed Baptist Church (Toledo, OH) - A beloved little church in my home town. It is always refreshing to visit them. I preached on Romans 7. This church is driven by a pure, biblical, simple worship that reflects the purity of the primitive church like a beacon of light in the midst of sad, dying city.

New Hope Reformed Fellowship (Door, MI) - This church is a 30-minute drive from Grand Rapids and has invited me to preach on several occasions. They have struggled against the liberalism of their former association and have withdrawn from it in order to remain faithful to biblical truth. I've been able to preach some Gospel-centered sermons from the book of Romans. There has been an encouraging response to the ministry of the Word.

Iglesia Bíblica de MicKinney (TX) - They invited me to preach a series of messages at their annual Bible camp event. This Spanish-speaking church was a blessing to get to know. It is being shepherded by a dear brother in the Lord who has been an encouragement to me. They were very warm and responsive to the Word. I was also able to teach on family worship and some families expressed a desire and intention to engage in it regularly!

Providence Church (Roulette, TX; outside of Garland in Dallas) - This is a warm, vibrant, biblical church that has been supportive of our ministry for years. They have some solid expository teaching that has blessed me tremendously. They invited me to share at their Sunday school hour and to preach a Lord's Day service. At Sunday school, I taught on John 15 and gave a ministry update. For the service, I brought a message from Romans 5. You can find my message on their sermons page: https://providencechurchoftexas.com/sermons/ (dated Nov. 4).

Heritage Grace Community Church (Frisco, TX) - I was able to share a Sunday seminary teaching on "Why we should read the Puritans." There was an encouraging response as many showed interest in this much-neglected body of excellent literature.

Trip to Israel! - More on this below.

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Conference in Mexico: 
The Glory & Beauty of the Triune God

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Recently our ministry in Mexico hosted its fifth annual conference. This year, the theme was, "The Glory and Beauty of the Triune God." It included 12 plenary messages on the doctrine of the Trinity. Some of these messages embarked on themes that are much neglected in modern Christianity but have been foundational to classical Christian theism throughout the centuries.

The Trinity is integral to the gospel. God's revelation in the great saving event of the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son & the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost is a revelation that is intrinsically Trinitarian. The New Testament message of salvation is a message in which the doctrine of the Trinity inheres. The Biblical Gospel is Trinitarian to the core. And it is necessary to defend this truth against all the heresies that buffet the Christian church in Latin America constantly. Our conference was intended to meet a vital need of the church in Latin America, which is to equip the church to know the Trinity and to defend the doctrine biblically and theologically. Most of all, the Trinity is not a doctrine to be coldly analyzed or speculated upon, but to inspire awe and wonder, and to bring us to fall on our faces and confess the majesty of God.

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Our Crisitianismo Biblico conference this year received about 700 attendees and included four days of fellowship, prayer, hymn-singing, meal sharing, edification and fun. It was hosted on a campground in the highlands of Jalisco, right in the middle of the "Circle of Silence" in Mexico--called such because of the minimal presence of evangelical Christians (it is predominantly Roman Catholic). It was great to have a solid gospel witness in the midst of the highlands.

A group photo from the Fifth Annual Conference of Cristiianismo Biblico in the highlands of Jalisco, in Guadalajara Mexico.

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Biblical & Theological Training
​for Latin America

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We continue to work on our Latin American seminary project. This is a massive project that requires tons of work before it can be launched. Logistics, infrastructure, and most of all, course content has to be developed. If this project is successful, it can be the most important project we can do for the field in which we labor. Since I'll be teaching many of the courses (D.V.), I've been focusing on developing my knowledge of the pertinent subjects of interest.

As I've been focusing much on growing in my proficiency in Biblical Greek, I'm growing in my excitement and anticipation of teaching it to the Latin American world. A grasp of the language of the New Testament and a working knowledge of implementing it practically in exegesis is sorely needed in Latin America. There are few resources available to train men in handling the biblical text accurately and profoundly. But if we can impart these tools to men who are apt to teach, it can spark a renaissance of biblical truth. I am longing to take men deeper into the pure, unadulterated text of the Word of God.

Martin Luther said that reading the Bible through translation is like attempting to kiss one's bride through the veil. It gets us close, but it leaves us longing for more. While our translations are great (in both English and Spanish), nothing can replace a working knowledge of the original languages of Scripture. This is especially important for Bible expositors. I would never discredit a man who does not have access to these tools, but if knowledge of the languages can be obtained, it can greatly buttress one's confidence in handling the Biblical text. There are simply too many nuances that cannot be translated precisely, especially when it comes to the significance of certain syntactical relationships and intertextual word-use parallels in the Biblical books.

It also helps tremendously to see how the New Testament uses the Old Testament and opens up the door to understanding what I like to call "apostolic hermeneutics" (the methods of interpretation that the apostles employed in their handling of the Old Testament text of Scripture). Understanding these things is greatly facilitated by a knowledge of Koine Greek, and this opens up the door to apprehending a well-grounded knowledge of CHRIST in all the Scriptures--how the whole Bible, especially the Old Testament, testifies to Christ. This is one of the passions that drive me. It is truly glorious to read the whole Bible with Christocentric eyes. It kindles a fire that makes one's heart burn within them like the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:32).

As I am working through the New Testament systematically in Greek, I am amazed at the riches and profundity of Scripture. I am beholding glorious truths every time I read a passage in Greek and parse and translate it, and it is invigorating my soul. After all, this is no ordinary book, but is the self-revelation of God. It reveals the glory of Christ and transforms us by it (2 Cor. 3:18). As the late R.C. Sproul said, Scripture is "the auto-biography of God."

In the initial stages of this project, we are working at developing training tools to help leaders in Latin America know the Bible in its original languages. We want them to be workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). We want them to be men of the Book, saturated with the text of Holy Scripture, equipped to enter in to its mode of communication on its own terms, that they may think God's thoughts after Him.

The first step in this process is developing a written grammar textbook. It will teach basic Biblical Greek grammar to Spanish speakers. After surveying available resources, we have decided to develop our own introductory Greek grammar because we desire to impart it with a pedagogy that is better adapted to the average learner's capacities and can facilitate memorization of key concepts more quickly. The next step will include an online learning platform equipped with audio and video resources. Then we need to develop curriculum for intermediate Greek grammar, practical exegesis, rapid vocabulary acquisition, etc. The first textbook is already in the works!

These Greek learning tools are all a part of the curriculum for our seminary project. If there is to be a lasting impact of our ministry in the Latin American world, there needs to be a veritable foundational comprehension of the language and contents of the Word of God. To draw water for a long time to come (if the Lord wills), we need to dig deep wells.

​The true work of missions is the proclamation of the Word of God. If the Gospel is to advance, the Word of God much be proclaimed, taught, and imparted with all clarity, vigor, energy, comprehensiveness, profundity, unction and authority. Please pray for us and consider supporting these projects so we can equip faithful men with a fuller knowledge of the supernatural text that God has ordained as his choice instrument of unveiling his glory before the eyes of men.

We exposit the Bible. That is what we do. And we are training men to be, first and foremost, expositors of the holy text of God's written Word.

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Some of the Greek textbooks I've been studying lately. I need to not only have a good grasp of basic Greek grammar, but also of intermediate grammar and applied exegesis. (FYI: exegesis simply refers to the science of 'extracting' the meaning from the text of Scripture.)

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A Brother is Approved for
Pastoral Ministry in Saltillo

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We are delighted to share that Iglesia Biblica por Gracia of Saltillo in Coahuila, Mexico (one of the church plants associated with our ministry in Mexico) has recently approved of the ordination of José Ramírez to the pastoral ministry. After much time and contemplation, the church did an official vote and expressed their unanimous approval of his ordination to the pastoral office. If all goes well, José will be the fourth man that is ordained to pastoral ministry from our ministry efforts in Mexico. His formal ordination is now pending a future date and the visit of two currently ordained pastors, who will formally set him aside by prayer and the laying on of hands in the presence of the congregation in a Lord's Day assembly.

For several years, José has been serving this congregation and leading in preaching and in many responsibilities. He is a retired engineer by trade and is currently studying in the Divinity program of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a dear brother in the Lord. We pray for God's grace to sustain him and carry him through this ministry.

Above: José and his wife. 

Left: José open air preaches in Saltillo. He has been faithfully hitting the streets with the message of Christ and Him crucified for years. Though there has not been much evident fruit from these evangelistic efforts, the brethren continue to press on and to preach Christ for the glory of God.

Above: The brother in the right from the church in Salillo shares the Gospel with man on the left. This is a great picture. I love to see the Bible in hand!

Above: Brother Cruz, a member of the church in Saltillo, is sharing the gospel with a group of people at the hospital outreach of the church. The church in Saltillo engages is regular weekly evangelism in Saltillo and Monterrey. Many people hear the gospel as they proclaim Christ on the streets and in the villages around.

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Deacons ordained in Guadalajara

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We are very grateful for the ordination of two deacons recently in Iglesia del Centro, our church plant in Guadalajara. The church continues to worship in Spirit and truth and to press on to know the Lord.

​This was an exciting moment for the church in Guadalajara, which has had no deacons until now. The church was planted in 2010 and now, eight years later, the members have expressed their consent in the approbation and ordination of these two men. Praise God for raising up these faithful men to serve the Body of Christ!

Right: Alex (lower left) and Edgar (lower right), two faithful brethren and servants of Christ, are ordained by the laying on of hands by pastors Miguel Fattel (left, behind) and Hector Bustamente (right, behind).

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Trip to the Nation of Israel

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In October, I took an amazing trip to tour biblical sites in Israel. It was 10 days touring Israel for educational purposes. We learned much about the history, geography, and archeology of the land of the Bible. Pastor Emilio Ramos, James White and I took turns sharing biblical messages at the different sites we visited to our group of 20 people. This was a life-changing experience. We had the best tour guide who unleashed so much information on us over the course of these 10 days that we were dumbfounded by the vast treasure house of knowledge this man has. It has helped me to read the Bible with new eyes. This trip is, no doubt, one of the highlights of my life.

I thank God for Heritage Grace Community Church for inviting me to come. They were the best group a man could have hoped for. It was a delight.
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​Above: Emilio Ramos sharing a devotional message at Ceasarea by the Sea, where Paul presented a defense to Felix in Herod's Praetorium. Right around where Emilio is standing is where the apostle Paul reasoned about sin, righteousness and self-control (Acts 24:25).

​Above: James White shares a message about the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on the top of Mt. Carmel. This is the very site where this amazing event transpired. It was surreal to be standing on the very ground where Elijah invoked fire from heaven and vindicated the glory of the one true God!

​Above: Yours truly sharing some devotional thoughts on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord Jesus brought up a miraculous catch of fish, calmed the storm, and traveled repeatedly throughout His earthly life.

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Prayer requests:

• We thank God that our daughter, Ariella, recently had her third birthday! May the Lord give her the knowledge and fear of Him from her youngest days.
  
• For grace, health, and provision to make upcoming ministry trips to Mexico. These trips are very needful and are a fruitful part of our labor but are taxing in their physical demands.
  
• For speedy and full recovery from a serious back injury. Josef has suffered from a prolapsed disc and pinched nerve for the last two months. It is much better now but continues to be delicate. If it is injured more it could result in near paralyzation for more months to come. Please pray for recovery that Josef may travel to Mexico in the months ahead to do preaching trips and to visit our ministry sites.
  
• That the Lord would give grace to our family—for a healthy marriage, obedient and happy children, and most of all, that the Lord would do a sound, saving work of new birth in our children.
  
• For wisdom and energy to engage in serious and deep study of the Word and Reformed Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and for grace to grow not just in head knowledge but in the experiential knowledge of the Savior.
  
• For help and grace to prepare sermons and lectures, for illumination and unction to preach in churches and conferences, and that the Lord would use this time to awaken an interest in the advance of the gospel in Latin America among the churches and groups in which I’m ministering.
  
• For necessary contacts to come together and be willing to help us in our project to offer theological and practical training to men—and church leaders—in Latin America. We are looking to establish strategic alliances with other ministries that can help us provide this training and with churches and individuals to support it.
  
• For the churches in Mexico that continue to worship the risen Christ—in Guadalajara, Mexico City, Queretaro, Toluca, Saltillo, Tepic, and San Martín. That they would remain faithful, remain steadfast under trial, stay true to sound doctrine and sound practice, and be granted much success in their mission and evangelism. And for the pastors leading these churches, namely, for Aaron, Miguel and Hector (including their marriages and families). Also for José and for his upcoming ordination (God willing).

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Support for our Mission

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If you desire to help support our projects, you can do so here. Alternatively, you can go to the "Support" page on our website: www.josefurban.org. We are very grateful for your support. It enables us to continue our work as we labor in the gospel of Christ. Without it, we could not do what we do. May the Lord richly bless all those who help us press on for the sake of the Name.