David taught a great sermon the other day titled “Counting the Costs.”  Being the accountant that I am, I loved it!!  He took it from Luke 14:25-33.  His first point is when Jesus says to hate people.  This obviously isn’t literal, see Matt. 5:21-48 where Jesus taught us to love.  It also doesn’t mean we are love others less.  Jesus teaches we must love with sincere love, like He does.  To help us understan we must note “his own life also.”  God loves the sinner but hates the sin.  We must love others, but hate the sin that seperates them from Jesus.  We must not let others seperate us from Jesus or choose others over Jesus.  The second point is the Challenge of Christ - Jesus was honest about the dangers and difficulties of following Him and He wants us to accept them willingly.  Questions we should ask - Am I ready and willing to deny myself?  Matt. 16:24 - Stop who we are, our own desires and just have Jesus direct our lives permanently.  Gal. 2:20 - Die to self so God can live in us.  Am I willing to conform to His teachings?  Matt. 12:43-45 - Not just denying self, but then filling with Christ.  Am I willing to follow Jesus until the end?  Not only when all is good and we are blessed, but in struggles.  The road isn’t only tough, it’s also pleasing.  To conclude it all, we should always remember that the prize is great for those that follow Christ.

The first week of August we had an evangelistic gospel meeting.  During the week we were blessed with seven baptisms, with eight more in the following week.  The most exciting thing is that all seven were at church the following Sunday, and this past Sunday only one of the 15 missed services because of illness.  That is an amazing turn out!!  A lot of these contacts were made by VBS back in June.  The past two Sunday’s our attendance has been 179 and 167.  We don’t fit under a roof anymore!! What a great problem to have.

In July a group from the congregation went with Giovanni’s family and the Guido family to visit Chacaraseca (the Guidos are from there).  The entire congregation pitched in, donating clothing and food, to take to this poor area.  We were overwhelmed with the generosity of the members!  We had so much they couldn’t take it all.  Everyone mentioned that they had received so many blessings from the Edmond mission team that they wanted to bless others.

We are up in Jinotega right now (a city in northern Nicaragua).  David is teaching a seminar for a group of preachers here, working to encourage them in their walk with God.  One point he made that I really liked is that teachers and preachers need to have special time for personal Bible study.  Many think that if they are studying all the time for classes and sermons they don’t need to study any more, but that type of study is focused outward - church problems, weaknesses and needs, and we all need study that is focused inward too.