Advance the Gospel

The Difference Between A Winner And A Loser

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This post is one of the principles I try to instill in our daughters. It is something I believe to be very important in life and it certainly has been important in my life. This post is an attempt to understand the difference between a winner and a loser. This post is not comprehensive, but does examine what I believe to be an essential difference.
A failure is not someone who fails. A loser is not someone who loses. Everyone fails, everyone loses. The failure is the one who fails and quits. Only God knows the millions of times when men have failed and quit, only to never accomplish what they could have if they just would have continued. Failure stops the the loser, but is only in obstacle to cross for the winner.
A winner is not someone who wins. Winners lose just like losers. Winners are those who, when they lose, they get back up and keep going, keep pushing, keep working toward the goal!
Two examples from the Bible…
  • Cain: Cain offered a sacrifice to God and it wasn’t accepted. He failed. “But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:5). Cain just stopped, he quit. God even said to Cain, “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis 4:6-7). God is saying, “So I didn’t accept your offering, get back up. If you do right, you will be accepted!” God was telling Cain to stop throwing a pity party and to keep going. Of course we all know how that story ends. Cain does not proceed in seeking God’s approval, he quits and goes and kills his brother. He is not a failure because he failed. God made that clear, but he was a failure because when he failed, he quit!
  • Peter: What an incredible example. Over and over we see Peter “failing” by saying the wrong thing, by giving his “two cents”, by even denying Jesus three times! Even so, Peter kept following Jesus. He didn’t stop. Even when he denied Jesus and fell so badly, he got back up and continued to follow Jesus. The same Peter that denied Jesus three times is the same Peter that God used to see three thousand people saved at Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter was a real winner, but he wasn’t a winner because he never experienced failures. Peter was a winner because he didn’t allow the failures to stop him.
There is so much more that could be said. There are many modern examples of men who have sought goals only to find failure but continued on to do incredible things. People like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Howard Schultz (founder of Starbucks), and countless more! I believe the point is very clear. A winner is not someone who never loses. A winner is someone who, when they lose, they get back up and keep pursuing the goal! A failure is not someone who fails, it is someone who, when they fail/lose, they quit.
Be a winner. Keep pushing, keep going.
There are winners and losers. The winners keep going. But there is something much more important to understand about a real winner. Being a winner in life only to lose for eternity is not winning. Another post is coming soon on this subject.

The Process Begins

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The title of this blog could really be the theme of many posts. “The process begins” could have been applied to our time on deputation, our packing and preparing to leave for Argentina, trying to find a house here to live in, starting language school, etc. So what is the process to which I am referring? The process of acquiring a contract for the building for Faith Baptist Church. This morning I go to put down a security deposit for the the building in which we will start the church. Renting a building is a bit of a process and this is just the beginning. This is an answer to prayer. We should have the building in two weeks.

After searching for weeks, talking with dozens of real estate offices, scanning any and every real estate websites in the area that we could find, and seeing many buildings, we have finally come to the building we have been praying for! We are excited about the location, the city, and the greater surrounding area (the location is for another blog post, a post that will be coming soon).

There is much more to do once we have the keys. A company is currently using the building and they will need to empty and vacate very quickly. It will take them at least two weeks to do so. Hopefully, they will clear their things out quickly. Only then can we begin to start the renovations (like painting, etc). This is truly the beginning of the beginning of the process.

I am praying now that the rest of the contract process will be completed quickly so that we are able to get to work.

Why I Can’t…

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I read the first few chapters in Exodus this morning. God called Moses. God had a purpose for Moses to accomplish. How did Moses respond? It is very interesting that Moses responded with this idea in mind, “I cannot do it.” God responded with truth and empowered Moses, but Moses continually responded with fear and doubt. I have outlined the conversation that took place and have Moses’ responses of doubt in blue.

  • God calls Moses (Exodus 3:1-10)
    • Moses tells God that he is not able. (Exodus 3:11)
    • God tells Moses He will will be with Moses. (Exodus 3:12)
    • Moses asks God, who can He say sent him. (Exodus 3:13)
    • God gives Moses the answer and explains what He (God) will do through all of this. (Exodus 3:22)
    • Moses tells God that Israel will not believe him. (Exodus 4:1)
    • God gives Moses a sign (the staff that turns into a snake and the leprous hand) to show them. (Exodus 4:2-9)
    • Moses tells God that he is not able to speak well. (Exodus 4:10)
    • God reminds Moses that He (God) is the Maker of the mouth and promises to be with Moses mouth and will teach him (Moses) what to say. (Exodus 4:11-12)
    • Moses asks God to send someone else. (Exodus 4:13)
    • God provides Moses a “mouthpiece” in Aaron, his brother. (Exodus 4:17)

It is incredible to think that God calls Moses and empowers him, but Moses tried to decline God’s calling at every turn. Moses’ answer to God’s call was basically “I cannot do it.” What does all this have to do with us today? Quite simply a lot! I have not seen any burning bushes where God spoke to me through them and you probably haven’t either. But we do have a Bible where God gives His children a calling, that calling is to plant churches, win people to Christ, to baptize, and to disciple believers (among other things). We all have different parts in this great calling. The Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Not everyone is an “eye”, but every part of the body is needed and is important and has a part in God’s plan!

Moses’ answer to God over and over was “Why I can’t do it.” God’s promise to Moses over and over and over again was “You can because I am going to do it through you and will be with you.” Our answer to God’s leading should be “I will follow you” not, “These are the reasons why I cannot do it…”

All of this is very easy on paper (or on a computer), but to put into action is harder. By God’s grace we can have the right response!

Searching for a Building

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We are starting a church in Argentina. There is much to do in starting the church. Faith Baptist Church really doesn’t exist yet, but it will, and it will very soon! At this time we are looking for a place to hold services. That means we are looking for a building to rent. The area we will be starting the church in is over an hour away from our home and we do not know anyone in the area yet. That means I go along with some Argentine friends and we go from real estate office to real estate office explaining what we are looking for. We have spent days in the area looking for somewhere. We have asked God to guide us. What exactly are we looking for?

  • We are looking for a building we can rent. We obviously want it to be cheap.
  • We want the building to be in a residential area.
  • We don’t need a huge building, but we do need a room that would be large enough to hold services in (this is challenging). The homes here are made of concrete, which makes tearing down walls difficult.

All of these factors make finding a building a little more difficult. It means we have to think “outside of the box”. We have already seen many different houses, salons, and the like. As for now, there is one building we are seriously considering! We will take the remainder of this week to continue looking at places to hold services and we should be making a decision soon.

The amazing thing is that the cities we are looking in are all cities that are wide open! We don’t know of any churches that are preaching the Gospel in these cities. They are on the Southern border of Buenos Aires and are full of people! My mind goes to Matthew 9:37-38, when Jesus told His disciples “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Also in John 4:35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.“

This is just the beginning. There is much more to do from preparing the building, inviting people to the church, to witnessing to the community, baptizing new believers, discipling, and training men! What do we do from there? That is for another post! Check back for updates and continue to pray for us.