Joe's Big Adventure

The Gift Of Miracles-Bishop Philip Weeks

2010-02-28T09:18:00.004-05:00

The Greek word St. Paul uses for the "gift of miracles" in First Corinthians 12 is the same root word from which we get our English word "dynamite". Literally the verse should read "the gift of the operation of powers".

When something unusual happens we call it a "miracle" when it may or may not be in the sense that St Paul refers to this manifestation of the Holy Spirit; it means an act of God in a supernatural and powerful manner. Bishop Ricardo Alcaraz of the Philippines recently posted on Facebook a quote, the source of which we do not know, but a very good definition of what we are talking about. "A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law." Indeed it is in this understanding a miracle when a healing occurs that otherwise in all medical journals a reversal of the disease is unknown. Was the landing of the US Airway jet on the Hudson River an act of God or the skill of Captain Scully? People called it "a miracle". Or when a missionary friend visited refugees from the Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption prayed over a child she thought was sleeping. After she left the room and went on to other buildings someone came running to tell her the child for whom she prayed was now alive. The child had died shortly before she went into the room and prayed.

There are healing miracles. I remember one night at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Zamboanga (Mindanao) Philippines. Earlier three of our Barnabas team people had gone to Brent Hospital to pray for a paralytic. That night the nurses rolled his gurney to the church next door. During the evening different team people went to the bedside and prayed for the man. The service was ending, and as was my custom, I called the team members together for our personal closing prayers. One of the Americans called my attention to what was taking place at the entrance of the church. The paralytic had rolled off his gurney and was pushing it back to the hospital. He was discharged that night, and later married one of our Barnabas Day Care School teachers. That was a "miracle'.

There are other occurrences equally startling. On my first mission trip to Asia our leader had made confirmed reservations for our flight from Bangkok to Rangoon. However, when we checked in at the airport we were on a wait list with fifty-two people ahead of us. Our leader told us to go aside and pray which we did and ten minutes before the flight was to depart twelve seats opened up. We were on the flight. We arrived in Rangoon and the hotel where reservations had been made was fully booked. Again we withdrew to pray while our leader negotiated with the manager and in time three rooms with four beds in each became available. Strange!

John Sherrill, once senior editor of Guidepost, conducted a teaching mission in my Charleston WV church. When he taught about the gifts of the Spirit he cited the life of Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place) who was a prisoner in a Nazi genocide camp. Someone incarcerated brought in a half bottle of vitamins in liquid form. That half bottle lasted for all the women in her barrack throughout the war. Less significant were the times when our daughters, and our extended family, invited other young people home for Sunday dinner, and June had prepared a roast that would normally have fed just the eight of us but lasted through the meal for eighteen people.

On my first trip into Red China we were given on a piece of paper in Chinese the name of a Guangchou hotel. My roommate and I were to deliver four suitcases of Bibles to a contact at that hotel. We had successfully smuggled them in that afternoon, and when we were ready to leave our assigned hotel for the contact place we realized we had a problem. We were not permitted to check out of our assigned hotel, yet to get to the designated location we had to engage a taxi through the concierge desk. How would we explain going to another hotel with four suitcases when we expected to return? When we entered the lobby soldiers were present and watching us. We avoided the concierge desk and exited the front door. As we stood at the entrance a taxi drove up. The driver popped up the trunk. No one was present to take the taxi so we put our suitcases in the trunk, and I handed the driver the note bearing the name of the hotel. We met our contact, delivered the Bibles and tried to get a taxi to return us to our hotel. It was not until we went through the concierge desk that a taxi driver would allow us into his car. It was evident God had ordered the taxi for us and we successfully delivered over five hundred Bibles that night to Chinese Christians. It may have been a Chinese angel driving the taxi.

These may seem insignificant but nonetheless beyond the natural. They are miracles. They are the mighty working of a mighty God, and they happened in my lifetime.

Prayer of the Week

2010-02-28T09:15:00.002-05:00

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious

to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them

again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and

hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ

your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Video: Missionary Cristina Wilkison-Missionary To Peru

2010-02-28T01:37:00.001-05:00

Please watch this and if you can help please do.

Prayer Of The Week

2010-02-06T22:12:00.005-05:00

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us
the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known
to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns
with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.

Pray For Landima-Needs Surgery Now

2010-02-06T22:09:00.002-05:00

Please watch the video and pray for Landima.

The Gift Of Faith - Bishop Philip Weeks

2010-02-03T22:42:00.004-05:00

Today I am posting an article written by

Bishop Philip Weeks. Over the next weeks look of his guest postings.

The author of the Hebrews epistle defined faith as "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen". This kind of faith might be described as supernatural; beyond the ordinary day in and day out trust in God.

There are several types of Faith. There is the ordinary faith that we all have enabling us to put one foot in front of the other in the certainty that everything is going to be alright. We normally operate with this type of faith without even thinking about it. It is part of daily life. There is the type of faith that prompts us to respond to the Gospel call to believe Jesus is the Savior. There is the type of faith that causes a person to venture into an experience confident that all will come to a satisfactory conclusion. My leaving the parish ministry in1980, a good salary with benefits and church housing, and established Barnabas Ministries, Inc. without any assurance of income or acceptance of ministry is an example of a tremendous step of faith. And there is the type of faith the author of Hebrews describes.

On my first mission trip with another ministry I was ask to give a testimony at a meeting in Rangoon BURMA. I told about a healing in my older daughter. Following the meeting a man came to me and asked for prayer for his heart condition. No problem! You cannot verify the healing immediately. Someone else came asking for healing of an ulcer. Same story! I looked and the first man was working the congregation, finding people he knew needed healing. A line began to form. There was a man with a withered arm. This now was getting to a point where I wanted at least one of the other team men praying with me so I could either rely upon his faith or excuse the failure of healing on his lack of faith. All the other men were busy and I was alone to pray. I mustered up as much hope and faith I could and prayed for him, and to my surprise, he began waving his arm in the air. Healed! After a few other people a young lady who was deaf and mute wanted prayer. She had been given a New Testament in which she read that Jesus was the same today as yesterday, and she read that yesteryear he healed the deaf and mute. Again I looked for assistance and there was none. I thought at least I would be gone from Rangoon the next day and she wouldn't remember me anyway. I prayed in English. I prayed in tongues. I recalled Jesus had said "ephphatha" (Mark 7:34) which meant "be open" when He ministered to a deaf and mute person; so I said it. I tell you the truth; I had no faith this woman was going to be healed, but she did, otherwise she would not have asked for prayer. At last in my spirit I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to do the most unreasonable thing. I obeyed. "If you hear me," I said, "say 'Jesus loves me'." She did!

I stopped praying with any other people. I headed to the door ready to leave the building and on my way I began arguing with God. "Lord, don't you know where we are; in the shadow of the Pagoda, here in a pagan country. I pray for people in my church back in Florida and I am lucky if one out of ten gets healed. Why is it everyone I have prayed for tonight got healed?" He told me! "These people have not been taught how to doubt!"

In the early years of my formation of Barnabas Ministries, Inc. I was invited to speak at a Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship in Raleigh NC. I felt I was to emphasize Faith in the sharing of my testimony. I must admit that my teaching on faith was shallow compared to what I was going to be taught later. Following the meeting the President of the Chapter invited people for ministry. As usual there were three groups; the first for those desiring salvation; the second for those desiring the Baptism in the Holy Spirit; and, the third for those wishing prayers of healing. I had observed a young couple sitting not far from the speaker's table, and when they entered she was walking as if in tremendous pain, taking what might be described as "baby steps". Following the President's invitation I observed they went to the healing area so I went with the President to the group where people were being prayed for salvation. When we finished with that group the President and I went to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit group, and out of the corner of my vision I watched to see if the couple was still in the group. They were. We finished praying for people in the second group, and moved to those desiring prayers for healing. Frankly, I was hoping our delay would tire that couple and they would go home. They waited and they were the last to be prayed for.

The husband explained that his wife had suffered a back injury and her spine was fused. Duke University Hospital said there was nothing could be done other than give her pain medicines. It was painful for her to rise or walk and depended totally on her husband's assistance. She had come to the meeting in hopes of receiving prayer. I had given an emphasis on faith in my testimony and now I was frankly faithless. If Duke said there was nothing could be done, that is gospel. However, they were waiting for prayer and the President and I were expected to respond. I ask the husband to place one hand on the troubled area of her back and the other hand on the corresponding area of her stomach. I anointed her forehead with Holy Oil. We prayed. I thought a long prayer would suffice and then we would send them home and we would leave the restaurant. To my surprise I heard the Holy Spirit say "tell her to stand up quickly". I was certain that was not the Holy Spirit urging me to tell her to do the impossible. I continued to pray words and He continued to speak to my spirit that she was healed. In my mind's eye I could see her doing the impossible. Finally I succumbed to what the Holy Spirit was saying. I stopped praying. I looked at the girl and said, "In the Name of Jesus I want you to stand up quickly". I took her by the hand and she immediately stood up. "I want you to run to the other end of the dining room, in the NAME OF JESUS". She did! She turned around and ran into the arms of her husband He had not been able to hold her or hug her for a long time.

That was the kind of Faith the author of Hebrews is talking about. There is no evidence that something is possible or realized, but confident in the power of God you know it has happened before you have the proof. Shortly after receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit the husband of a cousin came to our Charleston WV church to be prayed for prior to cancer surgery. A dozen of us gathered and in the setting of Eucharist we anointed him and prayed for him. Afterward he, June and I went to lunch. I kept feeling the need to tell him the surgery would be a waste of time, but this was new for me. I said nothing. He had the surgery and the pathologist reported there was no cancer in any of the tissues removed from his body. That night in Raleigh as well as that evening in Rangoon, had a profound impact on me. The Holy Spirit used them to teach me to trust Him. Eventually I reached a place where I do not hesitate if I feel the Holy Spirit is revealing something that in the natural would be impossible. Jesus said the things He did believers would do, and with the Gift of Faith we will see the impossible become reality.

BMI Web: http://www.inet-usa.net/barnabas

See Bishop Weeks' BLOG at http://pepweeks.wordpress.com/

Another Video Of Kevin and Cathy Downes New Son, Benicio

2010-01-24T00:09:00.007-05:00

MIAMI (CBS4) ―

One of the most heartbreaking stories from the devastation in Haiti is the children. Nearly 80 orphans from Haiti arrived in South Florida to meet their adoptive parents for the very first time.

From the chaos of Haiti to the comforting embrace of loved ones, they arrived at Miami International Airport Friday morning to meet the families who have opened up their hearts and their homes. They are from 'God's Littlest Angels', a Christian orphanage outside of Port-au-Prince, which stood through the earthquake.

"Here's my son, right here, he's great," said one proud adoptive father.

These adoptive parents, from all over the country, have waited years in some cases, for this moment and thought it was lost when the earthquake struck.

Tim and Annette Franklin from Vermont are adopting 2-year-old Gedeleine.

"It's amazing. It's an amazing moment," said an emotional Tim Franklin to CBS4's Michael Williams. "We wondered a week ago if this moment would ever come. Now it's here, it's awesome."

Kevin Downes is a California film producer. He and his wife were touched by the plight of Haitian children through a documentary he's working on. Now 21-month old Benicio is an orphan no more.

"It's overwhelming, it's exhausting, it's tiring, it's a long journey but more than anything we're just thankful," said Downes.

The last leg of a long journey included 7 hours of immigration and customs paperwork before happy reunions at the airport early Friday.

Jennifer Ebenhack and her husband, missionaries living in Haiti, have a son and daughter and are adopting three Haitian children who have lived with them for years

"Only God can make something miraculous out of such a horrible nightmare," said Ebenhack.

Her adopted son Justin couldn't be happier to be here.

"I'm very excited because now I get to come here with all of them and see all of my relatives, and I get to see my great grandmother and great grandfather who are too old to see us," exclaimed Justin.

While the earthquake twisted steel and shattered the country, the human spirit has endured. Every reunion that took place this day, and will take place in the future, is testimony to that strength.

"Our hearts break for everyone still in the country, but we're glad that she's here and that she has the opportunity for a future that she didn't have," said Gedeleine's new dad, Tim.

Of the 80 children who arrived Friday, 58 came to the U.S. through the Bethany Christian Services, one of the largest adoption agencies in the country. Right after the earthquake, Bethany worked with its Haitian counterpart God's Littlest Angles to receive clearance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"All of these children escaped from this tragedy unharmed, but it is important to remember that there are millions of others who still remain in Haiti," said Pam Harrington, director of international adoption services for Bethany.

If you're interested in adopting an orphan from Haiti, click here to get more information from the Bethany Christian Services web site.

To watch the video click here: video of Benicio

Good Coming Out Of Haiti

2010-01-24T00:06:00.002-05:00

Please watch the video about our friends Kevin and Cathy Downes.

Prayer of the Week

2010-01-23T23:55:00.003-05:00

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our

Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News

of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive

the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mass Burials In Haiti - God Have Mercy

2010-01-18T11:51:00.006-05:00

Words can not say what I want to express. Please watch this. My only words are God have mercy. If you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, please do so for the people of Haiti.

Haiti Field Report from Samaritan's Purse

2010-01-17T23:19:00.001-05:00

Samaritan's Purse is a great way to make sure your donation gets to the people that need it.

Pray For Haiti And Do Something To Help

2010-01-13T21:56:00.006-05:00

Archbishop Dies In Haiti

2010-01-13T21:46:00.003-05:00

From Catholic News Agency

Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 (CNA).- The earthquake that struck Haiti just before 5 p.m. local time has claimed thousands of lives, according to news reports coming from the island. Among the many lives lost in the catastrophe are those of Catholic clergy and missionaries.

The Italian daily La Repubblica reported the death of Archbishiop Serge Miot, Archbishop of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince at 4:44 a.m. (CDT). According to the brief report, his body was found in the rubble of the archbishop's office. They also reported that the Vicar General, Msgr. Benoit, was still missing.

According to the Vatican's Fides news agency, Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza was reported as saying:

"Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. The cathedral, the Archbishop's Office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble. The same luck for the Ministry buildings, the Presidential Palace, the schools. The Parish Priest of the Cathedral, who was spared, told me that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince would have died under the rubble, together with hundreds of seminarians and priests that are under the ruins."

I Want My Name Back Part 3

2010-01-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

2. We misrepresent the Name of Jesus when we move away from sinners.

The average 'Christian' after one year of being a Christian has no friends outside of the Christian environment. What a sad commentary. How do we reach people with the love of Christ if this is how we act? If we look at Jesus, he was a friend of sinners. It seems that he was more comfortable around sinners than around the "religious" people.

Today we have 'Christian' health clubs, stores, clothing, bowling alleys, and the list goes on and on. In fact, we could go our whole life without being around non-Christians if we really wanted to.

The problem with this is this is not who Jesus is or what he is like. If we are to be like Jesus we must get out among those who do not know him and be with them. It is not a time to judge them, but to share their life and get to know them. Instead of trying to get them to say 'the Prayer', why not ask them how their day was? Why not be their friend? If we would begin to do this and treat people with respect I believe that they would come to faith much quicker.

Lay down your Amway salesman evangelism and begin to be real with people. Get out among those that Jesus misses most. Let us truly become Christ-followers.

I Want My Name Back Part 2

2010-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

1. We misrepresent the name of Jesus when we use Jesus' name apart from His nature and character.

Let me explain. Several years ago a young man was murdered by other young men because he was gay. During the trial, a pastor and his church members were at the courthouse with huge signs saying "God hates fags." As I saw this my blood boiled. God does not hate anyone. That is not His nature or character. But that is all that everyone saw on the evening news.

As you examine Exodus 34 we find God revealing Himself to Moses. In so doing, God reveals Himself first as loving, merciful, full of grace and then as a God of justice. So many times we as "Christians" get it backwards. We want to give out justice first and save the love, grace, and mercy for ourselves. St. Paul says that it is the goodness and mercy of God that leads us to repentance.

So, before we open our mouths and say this is what God is like we better check out His nature and character before we say anything. Let us truly become "Christ followers."

Prayer of the Week

2010-01-10T00:11:00.003-05:00

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River

Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him

with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his

Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly

confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy

Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

I Want My Name Back Part 1

2010-01-09T23:49:00.004-05:00

Sometime ago I was driving down one of the beautiful streets in downtown St. Augustine. As I was driving, I looked to my right and saw a bumper sticker that said, "Jesus save me from your followers." As I looked at this sticker, a wave of emotions flooded over me. I though to myself how can someone put something like that on their car. I got really upset with the gall of this person. As I drove on there was another wave of emotions that flooded over me and questions began to arise in my mind. What has happened to this person that they would put a bumper sticker like that on their car? How did some "Christian" hurt them? Then I began to remember the times that other "Christians" treated me as I me as if I was not a Christian and did not even know that God existed.

I became very sad as I drove to the Post Office, because many times we so-called Christians misrepresent the name of Jesus. Several years ago a friend, Tom Pelton, preached a sermon and said that Christians have so misrepresented the name of Jesus and not acted like Jesus that he believed that Jesus was crying out to reclaim His name. He wants it back!

Have you ever misrepresented Jesus? Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone misrepresenting Jesus? If we were truly honest with ourselves we can all say that at some point in time we have misrepresented the name of Jesus.

Over the neve few days I will explore how we misrepresent His name.

Happy New Year-2010

2010-01-01T21:51:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year - 2010.

I pray that this will be the best year of your life. May you know God's

favor and blessings this year.

The Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas

2009-12-28T00:32:00.002-05:00

(Take from http://www.byrum.org/misc/christmas/origin.html )

You're all familiar with the Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" I think. To most it's a delightful nonsense rhyme set to music. But it had a quite serious purpose when it was written.
It is a good deal more than just a repetitious melody with pretty phrases and a list of strange gifts. Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from ANY practice of their faith by law - private OR public. It was a crime to BE a Catholic.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith - a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in *writing* indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged, or shortened by a head - or hanged, drawn and quartered, a rather peculiar and ghastly punishment I'm not aware was ever practiced anywhere else. Hanging, drawing and quartering involved hanging a person by the neck until they had almost, but not quite, suffocated to death; then the party was taken down from the gallows, and disembowelled while still alive; and while the entrails were still lying on the street, where the executioners stomped all over them, the victim was tied to four large farm horses, and literally torn into five parts - one to each limb and the remaining torso.

The songs gifts are hidden meanings to the teachings of the faith. The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge which feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered thee under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but thou wouldst not have it so..."

The other symbols mean the following:
2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

I Would Love To Hear From You

2009-12-28T00:23:00.002-05:00

Everyday Joe's Big Adventure Blog is getting hits from all over the world. I am so blown away by the response I have had recently. Now, I would like to hear from you. Please click on the comment section and tell me where you are from and how you heard about this blog. Also, what subjects do you want to hear about.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer of the Week

2009-12-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of
your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our
hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

I Confess

2009-12-19T15:55:00.000-05:00

Fountain of Mercy, sung by Angelina (EWTN)

2009-12-16T00:09:00.000-05:00

Repent For The Kingdom Of God Has Come

2009-12-14T00:11:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it? The 3^rd week of Advent has begun. Time is flying by so fast. It seems that we just began Advent. That is one of the problems of our lives. Time goes by in a flash. I remember when I was a kid and the adults told me to be happy being a kid because there would be a time when the days would go by very fast. I always thought they were crazy but I guess they were not.

Today I want to encourage you to slow down and take some time to reflect on our lives. I know in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season it may be hard, but we have to do it.

In Matthew 3 we read these words:

“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” Matthew 3:1 NLT (The phrase near is translated - the Kingdom of heaven has come.

As we begin to reflect upon this the first thing I think that we must look at is “repent of your sins.” Now you may say I am already born again. I have already done this. But are there any areas of your life that are not being controlled by the Kingdom of God? The writer of Hebrews says that we are to lay aside every weight that ensnares us. What are the things that we fight in our lives? Is it anger, unforgiveness, pornography, or some other thing that entangles you and it seems like you can’t get free of it? Take a few moments of quiet time and ask God to show you what you need to repent of.

The second thing to reflect upon is that repentance is not just asking forgiveness of something but to turn away from it. We need to make the decision to walk away from the stuff that ensnares us. How do we do this? The first thing is desire. You have to desire to change and make the decision to do it. The next thing is you may need someone to help hold you accountable. You may need to go and ask a mature Christ-follower to help you. But one of the most important things you can do is go to confession. GO TO CONFESSION! I can already hear someone screaming this and turning red faced. But yes, I did say go to confession. You see, as you go to confession and confess your sin to God in the presence of a priest, the priest is announcing what God has done in heaven is done on earth. So, maybe you need to go to confession and walk away knowing that God has forgiven you. Not because the priest said so, but because God says so and is using the priest to speak to you.

Take time today for some reflection.

Can The Kingdom Come To Juarez Mexico?

2009-12-11T23:14:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I was surfing the news and came across an article on CNN about “On the front lines of drug war.” It was really sad. On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, seventeen people were killed - gunned down in the drug war. I then watched the video footage of what is going on in Juarez. There have been 2400 murders this year in Juarez, just across the Mexican-American border from El Paso, Texas. In fact, this reporter was on patrol with the police and you could see the lights of the border crossing and El Paso.

The following quote is chilling. "Juarez is the most violent zone in the world outside of declared war zones". That is really scary. As you read this you may be asking, what does this have to do with me? I know it is bad but how does this effect me? Let me tell you. This violence has now begun to come across the border. It is happening right here in the USA. The Los Zetas drug cartel has cells all over the United States. The DEA says that this cartel is one of the most highly technologically advanced and violent cartels. They began from a group of men from the Mexican army that had been trained by the Americans at Ft. Benning in special warfare-Airborne/Green Beret types. Once they got back to Mexico about 50 men defected from the Army and became enforcers for a drug cartel. Now they have started their own cartel and the violence has increased.

If we do nothing this violence is going to spread into our cities and towns all over America.

But what can we do? Do we need a fence or tougher laws? I believe the answer to this problem can be discovered in the message of this Advent Season.

The primary message of Advent is the coming of the Kingdom. What is needed in Juarez, all of Mexico, and the United States is for the Kingdom of God to be made real. The kingdom of darkness is ruling in this region. All you have to do is watch the videos about the Los Zetas and other cartels to know of the darkness and the demonized activity.

What would happen if the Church began a united effort to pray for a true move of God in this region? What if we began to fast and pray for an end to the killing and torture? What would happen if we began to pray for God to raise up godly priests, pastors and lay evangelists to take the message that the Kingdom of God has come to Juarez?

I can tell you what would happen. We would begin to see a change. As we confront the power of Satan and his kingdom and fight for people’s lives, peoples hearts would begin to change. The only way to stop the violence is for men and women’s hearts to be changed. As Paul said, how can they know unless someone tells them?

As we continue in this Season of Advent I call us to pray and fast for Juarez and Mexico. God raise up men and women to make a difference.