Fear.

There are several things I fear in life. Some are irrational, trite, and small fears; some are significant, profound, and I think many would understand why I fear those things.

I'm very afraid of needles, snakes, and insects. Also, I'm a little afraid of heights. Falling off a roof and busting my knee last spring certainly didn't help with that one!

But there are some more significant things I fear.

- Cancer. Honestly, this is something I fear tremendously. I've seen my grandpa die from this, I've seen many others battle it - some have won from an earthly perspective and were given more life on earth; others experienced true victory left this earth, going Home to be with out Lord. Honestly, cancer is something I really, truly fear - and I hope to never get that vile, wicked, stupid disease.

- My parents growing older. Kind of going along with the cancer thing, sometimes I see my parents getting older and I fear what will happen if one of them gets cancer or some other debilitating disease. Or if from mere old age they become unable to care for themselves. I fear what will happen then; will I be able to care for them or not? What will we do when the time comes for my mom or dad to go Home to be with the Lord?

- Being disqualified from ministry. Nobody is above being decimated by one stupid, sinful choice. Ministry leaders especially are prone to spiritual temptation and failure because of the intense nature of the job and because of increased spiritual attack that comes with the work. I hear of pastors who are in ministry for decades and decades, and I pray and hope and fear not a little bit that I will some day fall into the trap of sin, embarrass the Lord and His Church, and be disqualified from ministry.

When I fear, it can be intense. If I leave it unchecked, it can be overwhelming and disabling. In my younger years, I let fear steal away many of my days. So in order to conquer my fear through the power of God, I have memorized and constantly go back to this one amazing verse:

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." - 1 John 4:18

Perfect love drives out fear. It casts out fear. It hurls it away from us like you would throw a rock across a room or projectile vomit several feet away. So just what is perfect love? It's the love of God. I mean, what love could be more perfect than the love of God that compelled Him to do whatever it took and go to the most extreme lengths to bring us back to Him? If the cross of Jesus Christ doesn't give you tremendous confidence in our God, then I just don't know what will.

So when I fear, I remember that there is no fear in love. I remember that God's perfect love drives out my fear. I remember that fear is not from God; it's from stupid satan. I remember that God did not give me a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), that I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13), and I remember that the same power then conquered the grave lives in me (Romans 8:11).

So when I take my focus off my fear and put it on the Word of God, fear loses it power over me and it just fades away into the past.

Like the old bumper sticker says: "No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace". It's cliche, but it's very true. Perfect love drives out fear.



What do you fear? How do you deal with your fear?

charity: water

Look at this infographic, then go to http://www.charitywater.org and get involved.

100% of any money you donate goes to providing clean water to the people in our world who don't have it. Yes, 100% of your money!

5 Months

That's about how long it's been since I last blogged. So much has gone on, I won't try to recap it. But I will try to begin to blog more regularly - at least once or twice a week.

So let's see what God will do with this thing! Thanks for reading.

Because of them.

Because of them, I slept soundly last night without any fear of a foreign army invading my city.

Because of them, I went to the gym this morning without even thinking twice about it.

Because of them, I was able to mow my own lawn without fear of my piece of land being confiscated without recompense.

Because of them, I was able to paint my front door without worrying that it will ever be broken down by gestapos.

Because of them, I'm able to post this without fear of it being monitored by the government, censored by them, or taken down because they do not like the views I express here.

Because of them, our Constitution has been protected and still guarantees me many freedoms I take for granted.

Because of them, you and I say and do hundreds things every single day in freedom, without fear of the government or any foreign enemy.



Over one million men and women of every race and creed have given up their lives for the sake of freedom, for the sake of this great country, and for our sake. May we never, EVER forget their sacrifice.

To all who have ever sacrificed for our great country: thank you.

I have a dream.

So we all know the most famous line from Martin Luther King Jr. - "I have a dream ..."

Do you?



Seriously. Do you have a dream? Mr. King had a dream, a dream that he died for. A dream that has mostly become a reality in the generation that came after him.

It's amazing how powerful a dream can be - powerful enough to cause someone to lay down their life for it.

I've had a dream for awhile. I don't know how to bring it to fruition, I don't know how much it'll cost, I don't know the details - I don't even know what the first step might be - but I know it's a dream that could be used to make a huge impact for God's Kingdom and could really help people in their time of need.

Here's the dream: a mobile help center. Imagine with me; you have a crisis at your home, like a water pipe bursting and flooding your home, or a house fire or God forbid, a murder in your home. Or anything really that causes you to be in a crisis. You call 911 and the appropriate first responders show up but not long after them, another group shows up: the service team in their mobile help center.

This RV or trailer pulls up in front of your home with the people and resources ready to help solve your crisis as much as is humanly possible.

- If your home is flooded they bring shop vacs to clean up the water and vacuum our furniture, tools to remove ruined drywall, a fresh supply of groceries, a place to wash & dry clothes, etc.

- If there's a murder in your home, this team has all the equipment necessary to clean up the scene after the police are finished so that you don't have the clean up the spilled blood.

- If there's a fire - food, pillows & blankets, clothes, toiletries, toys for the kids, etc.

- It would be versatile enough that it could be used even when a crisis isn't occurring; it would also be used for blood drives, food drives, health fairs, service projects, etc.

Sure, other churches have done something similar to this. And the Red Cross offers some of these services. But I'm imagining a mobile help center, stored in a warehouse with a variety of supplies in stock, that is versatile enough to meet nearly every need a person might have and that can be there right away to help. It would also be used in months following a crisis to help people for the long haul - not just a few days or weeks.

And most importantly, this would all be done with the love of Jesus in the Name of Jesus.

This would probably cost a lot to start and maintain, and it would require some well-trained, committed team members who could be on call 24/7, but I think it's doable. This dream surely requires some fine tuning, but I think it's definitely doable.



What do you think - any thoughts?

Del Sol Church Northeast update, 03/17/10

Here's the latest update on Del Sol Northeast:

- Easter is coming soon so in preparation for that, last Sunday at Del Sol Northeast we started a message series called “A Place for Everyone” where we’re taking some time just to revisit what the heart of Jesus is for His Church, what our attitudes and actions need to be in order to make DSC NE be a church campus that pleases the Lord, and what God’s mission for Del Sol is.

- Also in preparation for Easter we are doing a mass mail out to the community surrounding the NE campus, and we’ll also be putting up posters at stores all around and handing out invite cards. We’ll also be leaving a small potted flower with an Easter invitation card at several hundred homes in the community. If you’ve been looking for an easy way to support our church's Northeast campus, this is it! You can help us walk down the streets and leave a flower at each home as a way to help us invite the community to our Easter worship celebration services. Come together as a GrowGroup, come with friends, make it a family service event - just come help us get the word out! If you’re interested in helping us with this, please let me know.

- We’ll be starting a new message series on Easter Sunday called “The Real Jesus”, which will start on Easter Sunday. In that series we will look at several different misperceptions and mischaracterizations of Jesus (Spooky Jesus, Best Buddy Jesus, etc.) and we will see who the Bible says Jesus really is.

- Thankfully God has provided people to lead worship through music at the NE campus since we kicked off in January, but we can’t go on forever having a different band and different leaders each week. So some other staff members and I have come up with a couple of ideas that should help us have some immediate regularity with out worship through music and be able to identify someone who can lead us in worship through music on a more permanent basis.

Here's how you can pray this week:

1. Pray for us as we approach some people about leading us in worship through music on a short-term basis as well as on a more permanent basis.

2. Ask the Lord to prepare the hearts and minds of those we will serve and who will receive invitations in the mail for Easter at Del Sol Northeast. Ask Him to send many from the community to DSC NE so that they can hear the life-changing message of the Gospel.

3. Keep asking the Lord to challenge those from Del Sol NE who are Christians to be proactive and intentional in inviting their friends, neighbors, and coworkers to Del Sol NE.

Thanks for your prayers - I truly believe they make a big difference.

- Ariel Martinez | ariel@delsolchurch.com

Del Sol Church - Northeast Campus Pastor

11501 Vista del Sol, El Paso, TX 79936

Office: (915) 855-3798 ext. 231 | Cell: (915) 449-0552

Del Sol Northeast update - 03/03/10

Here's the latest update on Del Sol Northeast:

- A couple of weeks ago we started a message series called “aka God”, where we’re looking at a few of the Old Testament names of God to see what they mean and how they apply to our lives today. Last week we looked at the name Jehovah Tsidkenu (sid-keh-noo) which means God is our righteousness. It was a good week and a challenging message because I called the believers there to return to living righteously and the non-believers to begin a righteous relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We had a good response and I believe God was honored.

- On Sunday we have several first time guests – from what I can tell, one family and one couple come from a Christian background and the third family does not but was invited by someone from our East campus. We had a good crowd, which always brings a positive energy to the worship celebration service, and people seemed to be excited as they left. My hope each week is that everyone who comes to Del Sol Northeast will have a good experience with us and a genuine encounter with God. I believe that happened on Sunday.

- This coming Sunday we will finish up the “aka God” series by looking at the name Jehovah Nissi, which means “the Lord is my banner”. It should be interesting as we see how God goes before us and in the battle of life, is the banner we look to in order to be encouraged and to know where to go.

- As Easter nears, I’m talking with my directors about what we need to do on Easter Sunday itself and what needs to happen beforehand – outreaches, hospitality setup, etc. We’ll also be doing a mailout to the neighborhood around the campus to invite them to a series called “The Real Jesus”, which will start on Easter Sunday. In that series we will look at several different misperceptions and mischaracterizations of Jesus (Spooky Jesus, Best Buddy Jesus, etc.) and we will see who the Bible says Jesus really is.

Here's how you can pray this week:

1. Please continue to pray that God will soon raise someone up to lead our band and tech teams.

2. Ask the Lord to guide me and give me clarity as I think about and make goals for the long-term future of Del Sol NE. Ask Him to give me vision and show us what He wants us to look like 3 months from now and one year from now.

3. Keep asking the Lord to challenge those from Del Sol NE who are Christians to be proactive and intentional in inviting their friends, neighbors, and coworkers to Del Sol NE.

Thanks for your prayers - I truly believe they make a big difference.

- Ariel Martinez | ariel@delsolchurch.com

Del Sol Church - Northeast Campus Pastor

11501 Vista del Sol, El Paso, TX 79936

Office: (915) 855-3798 ext. 231 | Cell: (915) 449-0552