Plant in Jalisco

One item on my bucket list is to make the casa God provided available for His glory. A quote worthy of consideration "Only one life, will soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last." Life is short and while Jehovah Jirah has provided richly for all my needs, it is my desire to share Casa De La Luz. Amazed by the way He works, God led Juan Miguel Perez, a taxi driver to help me as a solo traveler. His smile is warm and he now keeps the keys to my casa in Chapala. Miguel will pick up and deliver those who are doing Kingdom work to stay for as long as needed to plant a bible preaching church in Chapala. Miguel was born and raised in the neighboring town of Ajijic. The casa is furnished modestly with a bible, a bed, a table and a couple of chairs. By contacting Barbara via email, she will check the calendar for anticipated guests. Transportation to her home from Guadalaraja is pre-arranged by the prompt and reliable service of Miguel, and English speaking tour guide. He is a happy family man who is proud to hold a certificate as a tour guide of the area. I have offered to help him with his business to support his family. Miguel will delight you with the 700 years of history contained in Lake Chapala and Ajijic. Chapala is only 35 minutes away from the Guadalaraja airport. The casa has been prepared for visitors with potable water, a fridge, stove, 2 bedrooms, but only one matrimonial sized bed, sheets, towels, dishes, a NANO IPOD with music, and a guest book with a map of the area. The names and phone numbers of all the gringo neighbors are also ready for your introduction. Around the corner is the Chapala Plaza with lots of restraunts. If you do elect to knock and ask the Lord to send you to Chapala to plant a church, Miguel will pick you up and take you grocery shopping at the nearby Sariano. If new to the state of Jalisco, according to your budget and need to become familiar with the area, a simple call to Miguel will enable you to drive around with a local tour guide who will gladly transport you while answering any questions to the best of his ability. Casa De La Luz is only one block away from the local MEDICINA and four blocks to the lake and park. It is also conveniently located to the bus station. Just outside the security gates of Villa Santa Paula to the left, down a half block is a clean family owned spot to order a burrito to go for a picnic in the park! A few steps more and you find a convenient pay phone outside the MEDICINA. The CHAPALA Train Station/Art Museum; Christiana Park, and the Malecon are all within walking distance. There is a large expat society of 1,200 gringos who need a LINK to CHRIST. The casa is located in the heart of Chapala on the cobblestoned street of Estacion. Casa De La Luz offers a large masterbedroom with private bath that has a slider door to a covered patio with a waterfall. Luke Everett will be traveling for a visit to investigate Chapala as a location for his 2nd school for the deaf. Simply EMAIL Barbara your intended dates and make flight reservations direct to Guadalaraja. Miguel will pick you up from the airport for a fee of $350 pesos one way. EMAIL any questions or your intended dates to Barb at ALLEYWRITES@YAHOO.COM ~ Choosing to follow the prompt of God's spirit and purchase this casa was a choice of faith. Life is full of daily choices. My decision to move to Mexico when I retire on June 18, 2014 was a choice to walk in faith into a different way of life ... a different view of life ... and to embrace the rich experience of a new culture and allow God to use me in a fresh way. No matter where anyone lives, we can plant seeds and trust that God will water them, weed them, and prune them according to His plan. My prayer is that God will use Casa De La Luz for His purpose before and after I retire from my position as a civil servant in Stockton. April and May are the HOT months with temps up to 90 degrees. The casa has fans but no air conditioning. It begins to rain at about 4:00 PM daily in June thru March which keeps the temps mild and fresh thru March. SEE the COMMENT below for CONTACT information for Miguel.

The Link We all Need

Linking the world to a New Life in Christ, one soul at a time. I was thrilled to hear and meet Dr Manny Fernandez, the current Chariman of World Link Ministries on Sunday July 31, 2011. His passion to see people come to Christ and to return to Christ inspired me. Just like the stories Jesus tells us all in Luke 15, I pray that on this day that my son will be restored according to God's will. The great JOY of finding the lost sheep, the excitement of the lost coin recovered, and the MIRACLE of the prodigal son who comes back home! Dr Manny wrote this story about a man he met in his travels named Alberto. Manny wrote: "Alberto was horribly lost in the depths of vice, the pride of life, and the rotten fruit of his bad friendships. I was on visitation when I met him; there was nothing that seemed special about the encounter for either of us. Alberto listened politely to what I had to say and even agreed to my dropping by for a visit whenever I was in the neighborhood. Shortly after the visit I found out that his nickname was “Wobbly” because he was notorious for his drinking. Just one week after the visit, his wife Martha surprised me by calling my cell phone. Martha was very upset. Alberto had left with his friends and she knew that this would mean another chapter of heavy drinking and bad consequences. Her outrage was even greater because Alberto had talked of a new beginning after I had visited him. Supposedly things were going to change! Martha was desperate because she had truly believed that this would be the new life she had hoped for. She asked me to please help her and Alberto! She wanted me to go across town and break up the party! That was audacious, bold, and unorthodox all at once. But it also would demonstrate that we were serious about a new life in Christ. So I went. My mission was clear: I was going to be the party pooper! It wasn’t hard to find the party house, the loud music gave it away. When I showed up at the door, all of the gaiety turned to embarrassment. I was as out of place as a bull in a china shop. The music stopped; the silence was suddenly deafening. Alberto announced to his drinking buddies, “I’d better go home now.” The meaningful chat that followed was not patronizing: it really was a painful recognition on his part that he had so quickly gone back on all his good intentions. Talking about becoming a spiritual leader for his family was far more awkward for him. He felt utterly unworthy. But Alberto was a very serious-minded individual. The experience touched him deeply and transformed him completely. He received Jesus as His Savior and he began a journey down the path of “the straight and narrow.” He was at every meeting we held, and we disciple him for ministry. In time he became the most dependable leader we had. His situation at work also improved and he became a supervisor." ~ WOW what an inspiring TRUE TALE of redemption by the simple telling, using plain yet vivid words, of how life without Christ is like a heart, or a bucket with a hole in it. Not much use! When we embrace God's plan to adopt us through Jesus Christ, and then use us for His glory, our life brightens with HOPE that our life does have meaning! Within the WORLD LINK MINISTRIES blog section Manny tells another story about the simple definition of a bucket list. According to the dictionaries Manny consulted: "it is a list of goals and experiences a person wants to enjoy before he or she kicks the bucket"!! WOW! Manny looked at a list of 1,000 ideas of what to put on your "bucket list" He was not surprised that most lists have no "eternal achievements" mentioned. Not even in the "spiritual ideas." According to the scripture Manny was studying regarding the condition of mans heart: "The heart condition that "ignores, spurns, rejects" a GOD AGENDA is known as Hardening of the heart or Sclerokardia! Sounds similar to a hardening of the arteries, otherwise known as arteriosclerosis." Another story Manny then shared: "I was reminded of a 77 year old who approached me in Cuba because he had been a hero in the Bay of Pigs Battle, but all the medals he had were only "tin junk." He wanted something to take with him to eternity! He asked if he could plant churches with us. My dilemma was whether he was serious or just wanted retirement pay?! Thankfully I gave him a chance… He planted 4 churches in the next four years. His eternal bucket was overflowing. More importantly, he kicked the bucket at 81, and his expressed regret was that he started so late. What is on your bucket list? Make the Lord smile with the contents!"

FLAWLESS AUTHORITY

When the occasion arises that we need to know which way to go, we are wise to ask for direction. When we are lost we must trust the authority of Whom we inquire. Having been wrong before, we are skitterish on our own, and perhaps we delay our first step. Like babes we yearn to be picked up and carried across the great abyss that looms before us. Our Father reminds us of His love, and His care for generations of those who followed His advice. He arranged to have His word, His will and His way recorded in one book that we may learn of His provision for our ancestors, that we may recognize, trust, believe and obey the voice of our Shepherd. Jesus said with flawless authority “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and My sheep know Me— just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.” (John 10:11-18) God SPOKE and created the heavens and the earth and every thing in it. God is a communicator. Man does not know who penned the book of Hebrews as God’s Final Word: His Son. "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs." Scholars think that the book of Hebrews came into being in order to pronounce that Jesus is superior to all else. That He sustains all things by His word. The early Jews who were persecuted for their faith in Jesus as the Messiah were falling away. The book of Hebrews is a sermon full of God's flawless authority in Whom we should turn to when our faith is challenged. We are instructed through progressive revelation to only WORSHIP JESUS, not angels, not man, not statues, nor any created thing. While in prison in Patmos, John wrote down what he saw and heard. "Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people, His bride) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” At this I (John) fell at his feet to worship him. But he (the angel) said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” Revelation 19:6-10

JUICY FRUIT

The Holy Spirit gives our faith the JUICE it needs to attract others to taste the freedom we enjoy in Christ. Nobody comes to Christ if the Holy Spirit doesn't bring about a conviction. We cannot argue anyone into the Kingdom of God. Good arguments require listening and offering another point of view. REMEMBER: Within each breath; He that is "in" thee, is greater than he who is in the world. By faith in the unseen, we are constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. He does not depart from us. It is our conscious choice to be aware of His ongoing presence, grace and mercy. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and He lives out through us, with or without our conscious awareness. We feel His prick of conviction when we are out step with God's way and will. We are satisfied by the Holy Spirit when we are obedient. We quench His leading when we disobey. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do something the Holy Spirit is not leading us to do. So, if we're not satisfied we are quenching or grieving the Spirit ~ but He is still holy, He is still in our midst, and His mission is to teach us God's way and bring Jesus glory. Pray to have your awareness of Him increase. Prayer unleashes the power of God.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15, NIV).