Midweek Bible Study (June 18th, 2009)

21 attended this Bible study. These include 3 children and one teenager. Bible Study centered on the question from Romans 8.31: "If God is for us, who is against us?"The main idea was that God is willing to give us all things along with Jesus. We talked about what "all things" by using Phillippians 4 and Matthew 6:33.

Personal Bible Study (Wednesday, Jun2 17)

A personal Bible Study that had been announced for Monday, June 15, was postponed to Wednesday, June 17. The person we studied with was an ex-congressman. At first, when I was using my Bible, he would not be really interested. So, I asked him if he had a Bible himself. He was very quick to answer that he had a Bible his mother had inherited to him. So he went right away and got it. This changed the tone of the Bible study, because this time he was very interested in reading the passages. We centered on Hebrew 9 and 10, where it talks about Christ's sacrifice having been carried out once and for all. A lot of emphasis was made on the the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse our consciences from sin. I stressed this a lot because, being a Catholic, this man needs to understand the difference between the teaching of the Bible, and the teachings of the Vatican.

South West Bible Study (June 16th, 2009)

Bible study centered on the concept represented by the first soil of the parable of the sower. This soil represents the person who hears the Word, but doesn't understand it. This person has a problem understanding the Word because he doesn't have the necessary previous knowledge ("… whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him," Matthew 13:12). This was the case of Agrippa in Acts 26. On the opposite end, we have the case of the eunuch in Acts 8. This man had the previous knowledge, and was given more.

There were 8 people present, 2 children, one teenager, and four adults. The people who participate in this Bible study are very regular. They do come to church and one of them is a visitor. The rest are members or children.

In Guápiles on June 13 and June 14

It has been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. On June 13, Roberto and I drove to Guápiles as I was invited to preach that night for the gospel meeting they hold every year in that location. Guápiles is across the mountains, an hour and a half to the North of Heredia. I preached on Saturday evening and on Sunday evening. Also I translated for the English speaking Sunday School teacher and the preacher. There were more than one hundred people on Sunday morning and close to one hundred in the evenings. I was able to spend time with my brother Roberto and his son Joshua. I also spent time with the visitors from Huntsville, Alabama.

Midweek Bible Study (June 11th, 2009)

21 people attended. Three children, two teenagers, and the rest were adults. There were three visitors among the adults. The visitors have been coming for quite a while. Today we had to study Romans 8.29, 31. I explained a little bit about the wrong use calvinist theology makes of this passage. It was understood that this position contradicts free will. Then I appealed to the context, where Paul wants to give total assurance of God's justification. It was a great night. A lot of application was made, for us to understand the implications of the truths of God's foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. Some of the participants were very generous to let me know that the lesson really helped them.

Ladies visit homes with special needs

The ladies who meet on Thursday morning decided to split into three groups to go to homes with special needs. I was invited to go with one group to the home of a couple that had not been coming due to terminal illness of her mother who lives in another town, and having a mentally retarded son. It was truly a great experience. The ladies who went with me were Roxana, Ana Rita (my mother), Noris (Roberto's wife), Marlene, and Élida (a visitor). We first listened to them. She spoke about her mother's terminal illness, about how much she struggles with the little pension money he receives, about her need for glasses to read the Bible, about how ashamed she was for not being able to worship with us. He didn't say much. We gave them reassurance of our love. We explained that we were there because we cared for them, that we felt in debt with them, because the Lord says this is the only debt we will never finish paying. They said they felt the same debt with us. We explained that we were not there to collect it. We were there to pay our debt. We sang, studied God's Word and had a prayer for them. We studied Matthew 11.25-30. It was very meaningful to understand about how the Lord reveals to children, about how much we need to be like children, so that the Lord will want to reveal what is written in His Word.

Mirna Jones and Carmen Bonilla went to Alajuela, to the home of Doris, whose mother has been seriously ill.

Damaris Astorga and other ladies went to the home of Indiana and Estela Cuaresma in Tibás.

Key contact made

I was driving from one place to another in Heredia, when my brother Roberto called me. He wanted me to go right away to his law office in downtown Heredia, to see a man who wanted a divorce. My brother said that we could be the Lord's instruments to save that marriage. It turned out that he is an ex-congressman for the province of Heredia. We sat with him for a while, prayed for him, and explained to him that we were willing to help him spiritually. He was really interested in learning how to be right with the Lord and be a better man. He understood that it would be the Lord's will if he could be rejoined with his wife. He agreed on meeting with us on Monday evenings. The first session will be on Monday of next week, in his house. Life has its turns and twists. The woman he is divorcing is someone Roxana and I had reached out to when we were ministers at the Hatillo church. He said he will try to convince her of receiving the Bible studies too. To God be the glory for the blessing of being able to reach out to this kind of people.

South West Bible Study (June 9th, 2009)

There were 7 people present. My trainee Roberto Ulate was there. The family is made up by a lady, who is a member, her 12 year old son, her 5 year old daughter, and a 31 year old man. It was a simple Bible Study on the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. We had a lot of comments, we were able to discuss about the great need for pastors. We need elders who are trained to visit others to help them deal with trouble and the worries of this life. Roberto offered himself for this training, which we will start having once a week in the morning. We talked about meeting one morning every week, with the list of members before us, to pray for those who might have missed the worship on the previous Sunday, and then decide upon a course of action to reach out to such members. I hope others will join us in this prayer. We will ask the Lord to help us with this endeavour. We are in the business of saving souls.

North West Bible Study (June 5, 2009)

Bible Study began at 8:30 p.m. All the members of the Ulate Milanés family were present (three adults, three teenagers and a minor). There were two trainees present. There is at present a boom of radio stations, TV stations and places of worship being controlled by mediatic preachers who use them for their own profit. These preachers claim to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and ask the listeners to donate to them, so that the Lord will bless their lives with prosperity and freedom from problems. The only thing listeners have to do is enter into a covenant relationship with God by which they will pledge a monthly amount to be deposited in the account of their ministry. Once the preacher hears about the donation, he will have a special prayer in behalf of those who came through. Roberto has expressed his outrage for this abuse, and has acted upon it, by helping a national TV journalist to report on this abuse. I decided to help Roberto and his household deal with all this confussion created by such preachers. So, last night we began to study about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We began with Acts 3.1-16, to understand the difference between a real biblical miracle and what is shown on television. Then we studied Mark 16.9-20, the whole context, to understand why the Lord promised the gifts to the apostles. We have to continue with Acts 8, where it is clearly taught that the only ones who could transmit the gifts by the laying on of the hands were the apostles, etc.

Participants were very interested. Many questions were generated. I had to ask them to let me dismiss the Bible study, around 9:30.

Midweek Bible Study (June 4th, 2009)

17 people attended: 14 adults, 1 teenager and 2 children. The study was on Romans 8.28: "And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose". We tried to understand what "good" means. We read passages such as Genesis 45:7, 8 and Esther 4:14. Then we read Eclesiastes 12:13 and Lamentations 3:25-33. In both passages, two men who had had very dissimilar lives reached the same conclusion regarding what "good" is. " Good" is everything that makes you closer to God, and "bad" is everything that moves you away from Him.

My Dad turns 80! (May 30th, 2009)

My Dad was born on May 30th, 1929. We celebrated his 80th birthday on Saturday, at Roberto's home. There were 14 people present. I presented a short talk about my relationship with him. My Dad is not a believer. However, we get along great. I made sure he understood my love for him is from the Lord. He recognices the difference between the old Carlos and the new Carlos. The old Carlos didn't express his love as the new one does, with a sincere hug, and respect for his Dad's opinions when he is visiting him. I used the Scripture on honoring father and mother. I made the point that this is the fourth command. The first three commands are related to honoring God. I explained that this meant he was second after God. He was deeply moved. Roberto added his comments, and recalled one day when my Dad had complained about the fact that he had become a Christian. He told our Dad that being a Christian was giving him the opportunity to learn what love truly is.

South West Bible Study (June 2nd, 2009)

I had a Bible Study last night at this South West home. This time Roberto didn't make it, he said he had a rough day. I don't blame him. There were four people present, besides me. Two of them are not members yet, but they are visiting. One is a member in Coronado, who was visiting the family. The Bible study went on from 8:30 to 9:30 pm. It was profitable. It benefited the five people present. I centered on 1 Corinthians 13, because this people had not been coming to Sunday School, where we are studying this passage in depth. We analyzed the first three qualities of agape love, didn't have time for the rest. Abundant application was made to the particular situation they are living as a family and as a couple. There was great interest because they can really use the concepts to improve their lives. One of the participants is fully aware of the need for baptism. So he asked questions related to what would happen if he sinned after baptism, so we studied 1 John 1.5—2.1. Then we wrapped up with a special prayer for their particular needs.

Sunday Morning Services (May 31, 2009)

Total attendance was 107. These include 95 members and 12 visitors. The members were made up by 64 adults, 15 teenagers and 16 children. The visitors were made up by 6 adultts and 1 teenagers and 5 children. The visitors include a family of five who are members in Coronado. This time we had invited Geovanny Rodríguez, from Coronado. He presented a powerful lesson on the five plagues of our society, but he was able to cover only three: violence, adultery, and lack of faith. Geovanni is a former member from the Hatillo church, where I used to be a preacher. He is part of a family Roxana had worked with to convert them, whe he was 12 years old. Geovanni is not a full time minister. He is department manager of a very important company in Costa Rica. However, all his life he has been a church leader, someone who will most likely be an elder in a few years. Geovani's presentation was truly powerful. Contribution was 571 dollars. I think this contribution is a record. It is usually high at the end of the month. With this money we pay a pension to the former's preacher family, a work fund for me, utilities, and have a benevolence program.