Wow! We are truly in the last days before Christ returns. People are SO
hungry for God in Mexico! The fact is they are hungry for the Spirit of
God in every country we have preached with the exception of the USA. There
is a smattering of churches in America where Jesus is the focus but mostly
its religion, man’s attempt to please God by things WE DO instead of putting
our faith in WHAT JESUS DID on the cross. The bible says in a nut shell
that when one is increased with goods we think we don’t need the Lord.
Unfortunately that is where America is.
We flew into Mexico City and traveled 6 hours by car with our dear friends,
the Gomez’s and Roberto Morales. we went south to the state of Vera Cruz.
The meetings would start on Thurs morning but God had a Divine appointment
for us at a place we stopped to eat called the Happy Chicken smile emoticon with tears
of Joy the waitress RECEIVED the sacrifice of Gods Son for her sins! Just
knowing who Jesus is does not make one a Christian. The bible says as many
as RECEIVE Christ He gave right to become the children of the living God.
You must call upon His name to be saved! Hugs all around as we left her
smiling from ear to ear! Glory to God!
The first of three Pastors conferences began the next morning at 9:30am
Mexican time, which means we really started around 10:30.
Dorene and I have done around 100 conferences now in 8 diff countries. It
always amazes me how Christians, Pastors no less, do not understand
Justification by faith. Even after being saved 25 years and preaching most
of that time a Brother came up to me after the first session proclaiming
“for the first time I understand justification by faith”!
By the end of the afternoon the 70+ Pastors were stunned to realize how far
they had traveled from the simplicity that is the gospel! To another
Gospel. The Altars were overflowing with repentant men and woman rejoicing
and crying out to God! Not a dry eye in the house as freedom rained down!
That night we had a crusade for the lost and many were saved as they took
their faith off their church, off themselves being a good person and put
their faith only on the shed blood of Jesus! Hallelujah!!!!
Once back at the Hotel we learned that the Mayor of the city of Acayucan had
found out we were there and preaching the Gospel in his city and paid for
rooms for the whole team and all of our food for the entire five days!
About $2000. To God be the glory! I Hate to be repetitive but that doesn’t
happen in the USA!
On Friday 103 Pastors, and Saturday 141 Pastors and 31 leaders of the
churches from 5 different states came to hear the message of the cross.
Quite a number had been in our meetings in Tabasco a year earlier. Some had
been studying the expositor’s study bible and wanted more revelation about
the cross! During the Conference on Saturday a 7 year old girl who had
severely injured her left wrist and hand in an accident received healing!!
Her grandmother brought her to the front to give God glory! And we saw her
make several fists and roll her wrist!! Praise God! We had not prayed for
healing. She said it was in the middle of the preaching.
Friday night Brother Marcos preached a powerful message on sin in the church
and many came forward repenting and were delivered. Each night we had an
Altar call for the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Dozens were filled. Mexican
Altar calls are not like in the USA but rather go on for an hour or more.
Friday afternoon Benjamin and Willy and I went to the public square to get
ice cream. The Lord arranged one of the most incredible encounters.
Workers were putting a tile roof on a gazebo and I asked Benjamin how long
do you think it will take? After we all three guessed, I went over to ask
the men.
I speak very little Spanish and almost nobody this deep in Mexico speaks
English. So Benjamin was asking how long when a 40 year old man came over.
He said, in decent English, that he worked in Miami for 2 years back in
98/99.
I asked him, are you going to heaven when you die? No, I’ve been bad my
entire life. I said me too, and EVERYBODY else on the planet. The bible
says for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is none
righteous, no not one! The bible says, Jesus came to save the sinner not the
righteous. He began to tell me his father is a Pastor but he ran from God
in his teens and is on his way to hell. I preached the Blood of Jesus and I
asked him if I could pray for him. Thinking I would just pray and ask the
Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus as being the only Way to the Father because he
had rejected for over 20 years. He paused for a long pause and said YES. I
discerned that he was broken and wanted salvation. He took off his hat and
prayed the sinners prayer. Glory to God! Yes but wait there is more…I
didn’t know it, but his 17 year old son was standing next to him. Glory to
God, yes but there is more— when I told him where I was preaching on
Saturday he said “that is my wife’s church”!!!
Needless to say the entire family had been praying for him and was
overwhelmed by what God had done the afternoon we went to get ice cream!
Many many more testimonies but I must leave you with this. Saturday night
we had an outdoor, old fashion crusade at a covered court in a bad section
of the city. Hundreds came under the roof with hundreds of others listening
in the shadows. I preached out of Matt 16:13-24 Peter recognizes Jesus as
the Christ but then rebukes Jesus when He told the Disciples He must go to
Jerusalem and be killed by the religious leaders and chief priests. Sounds
like a lot of People all over the world …
They believe He is the Son of God but do not accept the ONE TIME sacrifice
on the cross as payment IN FULL for their sins. Still offering up Jesus
everyday, or praying to an Idol or confessing their sins to a poor pathetic
man… Make no mistake Jesus came for one reason, to die on that old rugged
cross for our sins! Hallelujah!!! At the end I gave an opportunity for
those that wanted to be born again and have their sins washed in the Blood
of the Lamb to come forward. Scores came to receive Christ as their Lord and
Savior! But my attention was drawn toward a 20 – something couple at the
end of the platform. I went down to pray with them and thru Elias, our
translator, I found out he had never repented and accepted Christ before and
she was a backslidden Christian. They were having big marriage problems, but
that night made things right with Jesus and now had hope. The counseling
continued with Dorene and I for 20 mins as they opened up. Then she dropped
the bomb, she was the Pastor’s daughter who had arranged this huge meeting!!
She had rebelled against her parents for years and years and this was the
first time she had gone to a service in years! That is why I love to preach
outdoors, people will come that would never darken the door of a church…I
used to be one of those people! Thank you Jesus!! I wish you could have
been there to see the embraces of the family! Especially the mother in law
weeping and loudly speaking in tongues for 10 minutes as she held her son in
law around the waist! Only God!!!
So much more to tell but pictures will be on our web site soon.
In June we will return for another long weekend in Tuxtla, Mexico, down by
the Guatemala border. Then Columbia, S America in July. As He opens the
doors that no man can shut we will walk thru. Please pray for us.
In Christ,
Brother Dan w/Dorene
Preaching the cross to the lost and found