"I only need Jesus Christ!"

This week we had Troy Sherman in to speak about "The Cross beyond repentance." The idea of the teaching this week was that the Cross was not just about ensuring that we could all go to Heaven, but that it compels us to so much more! Because of the Cross we are compelled to live a completely new life. We are called to love our neighbor and truly follow the principles Jesus set up for us in the Bible.

We talked about how applying the principles of the Bible could actually solve many of the world's problems, including world hunger and giving clean water to all people. There are two reasons for this: first, all Laws in the Bible are simply descriptions of reality and two, because God gave us the Laws and principles in the Bible because He loves us and wants the best for us. Because of this we should be trying to apply the principles in the Bible because of God's Love, and the ultimate demonstration of this was at the Cross.

We also talked about how the Christian actually has some great responsibilities. God gave man authority on the earth and a freewill, so a lot of the things we blame on God are actually our responsibility. One example is that 80% of all violent crimes are committed by men who grew up without fathers. So someone might blame God for a violent crime, such as rape, committed against them or their family, but that was never in His Plans at all. That same person, however, might be having sex with their boyfriend outside of wedlock which is the number one reason for fatherless children. God did not intend for this to happen, but man has made this problem because of our sin, not His fault. But God is so good that He still sent His Son to die for us to answer any questions about His Goodness! The Cross says to us, "I love you and would never do anything against you, but even if you do have anything you think you can blame on me, I died for that too!"

Troy also really challenged the YWAM Centro Mexico City as well. He is the son of a man who has been one of the key players in YWAM since the beginning, so he has seen tons of behind-the-scenes stuff and has seen bases rise and fall. He told us just how hard pioneering will be and that we really need to be ready for the storm. He also challenged us with commitment because, as he said, "Most of the key players in YWAM will tell you that they aren't the best or the smartest or the most spiritual, but rather that they just stayed when everyone else had left." So I have really been rethinking my one year commitment. I am trying to get my heart to a place where I can truly say to God, "Ok, Lord, I will stay here as long as you want." I am not sure what is going to come out of this, all I know is that God is good and the things He has in His plans for me are the very best things for my life!

As I was thinking about my commitment and was praying about my call to Mexico City I decided to take a walk. I was just wandering through the streets asking God to give me a stronger "yes." As I was walking along the Malecon (the boardwalk which overlooks the ocean) a man came across the street on crutches asking me, "Hey man, what are you looking for?" I told him I wasn't looking for anything to which he responded by offering me some marijuana. I told him I didn't smoke weed so he offered me coke, pills, "whatever you want." I told him I didn't do drugs, so he offered me a prostitute. I said I didn't need any of that because I have now found Jesus and He is better than all of that.

When he heard me say that he had me sit down with him and he began to apologize. He told me that he knew what he was doing was wrong, but that he was doing it because he had no money at all and was just trying to make it in life. He then told me that he really knew how bad it was because he had hurt his knee one day when he was high and drunk. To that I asked him what was wrong with it and he said that he just woke up off a high one morning and couldn't walk and was in tremendous pain. When I heard that I asked if I could pray for him. He said that I could, and then I told him that Jesus died to take away our pain both physical and spiritual. I then laid my hand on his knee and prayed a simple one or one and a half minute prayer for healing and then asked him how he felt. He said his pain was gone, so I asked him to get up and see if he could walk. He got up, took a few steps forward, and then looked back at me smiling and laughing. He started jumping up and down saying that he was healed and that he could walk again! He was probably more excited than anyone I have ever seen after they were healed! I then asked him if he had eaten, he said he hadn't, so I took his crutches up on my shoulder and we walked back to the base for dinner.

When we got here to the base he and I sat down with the base director and he began to share his story. It turns out that he had been a drug mule since he was 12 years old, had been on drugs for years, and hadn't been back to his home in Monterrey in three years. He then took out a bag of weed that was about the size of a sandwich bag and threw it away, saying that he never would need weed again! By the end of the night we were able to buy him a bus ticket back to his home in Monterrey where he had a Christian mother who had been praying for him all along. He called me when he got to Monterrey telling me he was safe with his family, that he was planning on doing the January DTS at YWAM Mazatlan, and that he, "doesn't need weed, pills, or coke, I only need Jesus Christ!"