Greetings IN Jesus Name!
MEXICO
We’ve been in Mexico for about three weeks now and have been able to get situated in our new home. We have definitely experienced the grace of God in His leading us in our move and ministry here. In fact, it has been much easier this time compared to the last time we were here. The Lord, with great ease, has given us a place to live and has directed our steps in ministry here.
BRADEN
As I said, we left our place in New Mexico about three weeks ago and headed to Braden’s place in San Diego. It was about a twelve hour drive without any problems. Braden is a brother I’ve know since 1997. I met him shortly after Lisa and I were converted. We’ll be working together primarily with Braden while we are here. Braden is almost fluent in Spanish, and this will be his first time doing ministry in Mexico. He works a full time job during the week and comes down here on the weekends to do ministry together and to fellowship. Lisa and I are very joyful to be working together with our brother in Christ.
RENTAL HOME
Once we arrived at Braden’s, we drove down to Rosarito to meet with a rental realtor that I had met when I was here about a month prior. She took us around and showed us several furnished/almost furnished places that were for rent. Thankfully, we were able to find a place on the first day. Before we came to Mexico, the Lord had given Lisa a dream that we would be in a larger place than we were used to, and the place we are in is certainly larger than the previous places we’ve had. It’s a two story home in a fairly quiet part of the town and is really close to everything. It has plenty of room for brethren to come over and fellowship, room for bible study, and room for the kids to have a play area. I know most homes in the States have this sort of thing, but we’ve been traveling and living in a travel trailer for almost two years now so this is definitely a blessing AND most of all seems to be where the Lord would have us at this time. Here are a few pictures of our place:
 (btw, the satellite is our neighbor's)
Not only did we find a place rather quickly, but the Lord has also kept us healthy. When we were previously in Mexico and in India, we got sick within about the first week of being in both places. Right now though, our family has been (and is currently) in good health. Praise the Lord! Along with being healthy, the Lord has provided for our needs here by brethren who have graciously given to us. In fact, when we left New Mexico, we didn’t have enough money to meet our needs here. Since we now have a monthly rent payment with utilities, we didn’t have enough funds to furnish the place or to buy food! However, when we arrived in California, we received two donations that we normally don’t receive on a regular basis that allowed us to purchase everything we needed! God is certainly faithful to supply all our needs when we walk by faith and follow His leading!
BROTHER NOAH
Last time I was here, I met a Mexican brother named Noah. At that time, he would go to the streets pretty frequently to pass out tracts and talk to people about Jesus. Brother Josef and I were able to take him out street preaching and spend time exhorting him in the Lord. I was hoping to meet back up with him when we came. I had tried to call him before we got here, but his phone number wasn’t working. Once we were here, I tried to drive to the church I knew he was attending. However, I was unable to find the church. I came to find out that it had actually burned down twice since I was here last, and now there is no church in that place. So we prayed and asked the Lord to help us meet up with him. A few days after we moved in, I was talking to our new landlord. She was telling me about a church she used to go too. As she was talking,, I was thinking it sounded very familiar to Noah’s church. I asked her if she knew a brother named Noah and told her what he looked like and she immediately said, "Yes!" They actually used to go to the same church, and she told me exactly where he was. Noah was staying in a small room in the back of one of the tamale shops on the Blvd. I drove down there and was able to see him. It was great to see him again and to see that he’s still following the Lord and preaching. In fact, he’s out street preaching about four days a week. I’ve gone out with him several times since we’ve been here. Two of the places where we preached are places that we are planning on preaching regularly.
ROSARITO JAIL
Since the last time I was in Mexico, Noah has gotten permission to preach inside the Rosarito Jail. He usually goes there about once a week. I’ve gone with him a couple times, and I preached to the inmates the last time we went. Noah and I, with Braden as well, are going to start going there more frequently, as we can go any day of the week. The Rosarito jail is a great place to preach because it’s a small, local jail where the turnover is very high. Usually a person is placed in there for some small offense and then released within a day or two. These are people that usually live in Rosarito, so there’s a good chance of being able to see them again when they are released. When I preached there a couple days ago, some of the guys were telling me they were arrested for no reason. They were simply picked up by the police and put in jail. In America, one might be suspicious of someone in jail claiming innocence. However, at least in this part of Mexico, if someone says they were picked up for no reason, there is a real good possibility that they are telling you the truth! A lot of times here, the police will pick up people walking on the streets and arrest them hoping that they’ll be able to get some bail money from them. Whether they are innocent or guilty, their being in jail gives us a great opportunity to preach biblical truth to them using their current situation as an analogy and a springboard for the gospel.
DRUG ADDICTS
In addition to going to the jail, Noah took me to a place where he preaches in Tijuana. The local police call the area “the conflict zone”. It’s an area in Tijuana that borders with California. This is an area where people gather who are usually either homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, or in gangs. Needless to say, it’s a high crime area and a pretty dark place. When we went down there, we took small meals we had prepared (rice and beans) to feed about 60 people. The park where most of the drug addicts gather is right next a real busy highway. However, at the present, we are not able to preach in the park, because if the police see you preaching there, they will arrest you right along with those using drugs in the park. So, we have to cross the highway on foot (quite an experience) and preach near the border fence. This last time we went, there were about 45 or 50 guys that Noah was able to preach too. The good thing is that since many of the guys lived in the US at one time and were deported, some of them speak English. I spent my time passing out gospels and talking to a few guys in English. After preaching for about 30 minutes, we then fed as many people as we were able to. The whole outreach reminded me of our time when we used to preach on the streets in South Dallas. The difference here though is that many of the people actually listen to what you are saying,, and you can have meaningful conversations with them about the Lord. In South Dallas, when we were doing ministry we would also take food with us. The difference was that in South Dallas, most of the people weren’t really hungry, and sometimes they would even complain about the food you brought! What a learning experience! In Tijuana, it’s very different. If you’re homeless in Tijuana, you most likely spend many of your days hungry with very little food. Here, everyone seemed really thankful for what we had brought. It’s a place I definitely believe the Lord would have us labor at this time. Again, myself, Noah, and Braden are planning on making this a regular place for ministry with a couple outreaches a week there. Here are a few pictures:
In addition, we are also working on getting letters from government officials in Tijuana that would give us permission to preach in Tijuana jails and on the streets without having to worry about the police taking us to jail. Lord willing, we’ll have this worked out soon! Also, brother Braden has written a gospel tract and translated it into Spanish, so that we can use it in our outreaches. We’re also working on getting them printed. If you think to, please keep all this in prayer.
Again, I want to thank each of you that pray for us. Please keep us in prayer. We are praying that the Lord would add to His kingdom through our labors here. May the Lord bless you IN Jesus Name!
IN Christ,
Sean & Lisa Scott
Greetings Brethren IN Jesus Name!
LAND
We’ve been here on the land for just under a year and we‘re almost finished with the work the Lord would have us to do here. I have to say, even though this is a beautiful place our time here really has been a trial and test from the Lord. It would be hard for most to imagine that it would be more difficult to be here in the US than being in either India or Mexico. But while we were in both of those countries our time was filled with ministry with brethren and ministry to the lost. And while those things are done unto the Lord they certainly bring one joy and satisfaction as well. Aside from the preparations the Lord has had us do here I can see how God has used this time to humble me and help me see regardless of what God has you doing, as long as you are in His will doing what He would have you to do, that is what should bring you joy and satisfaction. How easy it is to elevate things like evangelism and public ministry and equate them to “really serving the Lord”. But that’s certainly not the case. Being obedient to God in whatever He would have you to do or where He would have you to be is what is important. I know believers often say these things and agree with them, but it’s one thing to say them and another thing for God to test you in it. And while I do recognize that God has provided this land and everything on it for us and brethren in Christ, at times it really was a trial. I can’t tell you how many times I really did want to leave to preach and be around brethren. But, as good as those things are I had to die to them and trust in what the Lord was doing. But, it’s been a good and valuable lesson for me and one that now I’m glad the Lord has taken me through.
GODS PROVISION
As you know the Lord has given us this land in preparation for the future. Not only for us but for brethren as well. These last 10 months the Lord has continued to supply what we needed here as we’ve worked on the land. Being up in the mountains, one of the difficulties people have here is getting water. We’re up at almost 8000 ft and there really is no surface water supply. Because wells here are so deep most people haul water from places that allow it. That is what we have been doing the entire time we’ve been here. Lisa and I have prayed about the water situation many times. A few months ago the Lord answered our prayers! A brother in the Lord felt compelled to ask if we wanted help in getting a well drilled on our land. This was a huge blessing and we could not deny that God was again providing for us and others here on this land. So, for the last two months we’ve had well drillers out here drilling us a water well. They just hit water a few days ago at a depth of 1300 ft! That’s a deep well. Right now they are finishing the last of their work and should be done in 4 or 5 days. It’s always amazing to see God’s faithfulness to provide for whatever He calls His children to do.
CALIFORNIA & MEXICO While the well guys were still drilling Lisa and I had the opportunity to take a two week break from the land. In fact, we were able to take a trip to Texas and California to visit brethren. We drove 11 hours to Texas and were able to have my mom watch the kids for us so we could fly to CA for 9 days. It was a real blessing, especially for Lisa, because this was the first time in probably 7 years that she’s been able to take a real break from the kids! So after we visited some friends in Texas we flew to San Diego to visit a brother in Christ named Braden. I’ve known Braden since shortly after my conversion in 97. Since we were so close to Mexico Lisa and I wanted to visit the town that we used to live in when we were preaching there with Josef and Lina. The interesting thing is that the Lord was giving Braden dreams about going to Mexico as well. So it definitely seemed of the Lord for us all to go there. Braden, who’s fluent in Spanish, had a few reservations about going. After all, every news story about Mexico has to do with people being killed along boarder towns. Not only that, he works for the federal government and the FBI had warned them saying there was a bounty on the heads of all federal workers! But it was good because he didn’t let fear keep him from going. He just prayed about it and trusted the Lord. So while we were there we were able to go down to Rosarito Mexico twice. We were able to show him some of the places we were familiar with, where we lived and did ministry, and preach to a few people while we were there. One night we went out to eat at a place that has a lot of seafood restaurants. It’s sort of outside of Rosarito by the ocean. You have to park along a long wall and then walk to the restaurants. It can actually be a little overwhelming trying to pick a place to eat there. As you walk down the road the restaurants workers from each place come out and try to get you to go to their place. So you end up walking down the road with like 4 or 5 people getting right up in your face trying to get you to eat at their place. The funny thing is they all sell the same thing so in the end it really doesn’t matter where you go. Anyway, we picked one and had dinner. While we were there I met a young man in his twenties. I was able to talk to him for probably a good thirty minutes about the gospel. He told me that he ran a drug rehab in one city but then he was also trying to hook me up with drugs and prostitutes when we were there! Needless to say it was a great lead in to talking to him about sin, judgment to come, God’s nature and character, and salvation through Jesus Christ. I could tell at times he would come under conviction but would then try to change the subject to shake it off. Though he didn’t repent and believe I am believing God ordained our meeting for whatever He is doing in this mans life. I’m hoping to be able to talk to him again. After we finished dinner we headed back to the car. When we got there we noticed that the passenger door was open and the glove box was open. While we were having dinner someone had broken into Braden’s car. They had smashed the door handle and were able to open the door. Thankfully they just stole papers out of the glove box and left behind more valuable things that most people would steal. Having his car broken into was a real trial for Braden. He was already pressing through his hesitations about Mexico and now his car had been broken into. The great thing was was that he saw this trial as something from God. He told me that he had recently prayed to God about his belongings…about giving them to God and them not having a hold on his life. He saw this as God’s way of seeing if he had really let go of these things. I see so often that the love of material things, not wanting to suffer loss (materially or physically), and fear so often hold people back from giving all to God. People don’t realize the very things they cherish and won’t let go are the very things that actually keep them in bondage while they think they are free and keep them from being used by God. But it was good to see this brother begin to rejoice in his trial. And when we truly understand that God works all things for the good of the those who love Him, and understand that God is indeed Sovereign, we can as Paul said “rejoice in trials and tribulations”. If we know that God allows and brings certain situation into our lives then we can rejoice knowing that even, or I should say especially, through suffering and loss He is conforming us into the image of Christ. It’s a road very few people will allow the Lord to take them down because they really haven’t “forsaken everything from the heart” including their own lives. But it was a joy to see a brother rejoicing in a trial that God had brought his way. I know that when someone begins to embrace trials as God ordained in their life they will begin to know God in ways they have not known before. It really is wonderful to see. HATS OFF TO THE JW’S I hate to say it but I have to give credit where credit is due. If some of you have read my updates from when I was in Mexico you’ll know that I often wrote about the ministry of the JW’s there. I was constantly running into them and had several opportunities to preach to them and even to some of their elders. One thing was for sure….you could get up almost any morning and drive around and find some JW’s going door to door spreading their faith. I have to say, even though their doctrine is completely false they must really believe what they say they believe. Even if the reason they share their faith has selfish and false motives they believe it enough to be diligent about it. I found the same thing to be true when I was there this time. As I was preaching to the hotel manager he told me of people who would come by and hold bible study with him. I just dropped my head because I knew who it was. I asked him if it was the JW’s and he said yes. They were still going faithfully door to door sharing their faith. I spent a good while with him helping him to see the Christ of the bible and the falsehood of what the JW’s teach. Then later that evening I was talking to another one of the hotel workers about Christ. He was hard as a rock. He kept telling me about the “goofy Charismatic Pentecostals” who hit people on the head and make them fall to the floor. He talked about how they say people are healed when they really aren’t healed. He saw it all as a big circus (and I agree with him). For me the two encounters with these two workers just reiterated how backwards much of what is considered Christianity is today. It’s sad that people who don’t know Christ would see Christianity as a laughing joke and see the JW’s as those who take their faith seriously. And it’s true, while many churches seem to have their own little isolated club the JW’s are traveling land and sea to make one convert. We certainly do live in days of lukewarmness and apostasy. Now I’m not advocating that every believer begin a door to door evangelism ministry. While we’re all called to evangelism we are not all called to full time evangelism as a calling. That is something God calls men to and He sends them out. But I am convinced that if more professing believers were truly serious about their faith and had actually laid down their lives then they too would be sent by God and burdened to share with others the true riches that are found in Jesus Christ. True faith should and does produce a serious commitment to God and His kingdom. So much so that all other pursuits become foolish and vain in light of the truth of being a part of God’s unending kingdom. It’s a sad day when a cult is more faithful to what they believe then professing Christians who say they know the ONE who gives and has eternal life. It reminds me of the Keith Green song “Asleep in the light”. If you haven’t heard it you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-XOVZcwowMOVING TO MEXICO As many of you know I truly have a heart felt desire to return to India and preach. And though I’ve wanted to go, at this time God has not confirmed that it’s His will or made it possible. (While I’m still hoping the Lord makes it possible sometime soon I want it to be in His will and not just my desire). However, surprisingly to Lisa and I, God has confirmed that He is sending us again to Mexico for a season. It’s certainly not a place that we ever thought we’d return too but we’re glad to do so in God’s will. We know the Lord at this time would have us to return to Rosarito and do evangelism ministry with Braden. Braden is fluent in Spanish and definitely feels called by God at this time to do ministry there. So for us it’s a joy to see the Lord put us together with him for a season to do ministry in Mexico. As of now, we’re planning on leaving on Oct 8th to head to San Diego and then to Rosarito to find a place to stay. We’ve been working with a lady in Rosartio who is helping us find a furnished place. That way we’ll be able to show up with just our clothes and a few other necessary items. How long will we be there? We could be there just through the winter or maybe longer. Only the Lord knows. We are though looking forward to working with our brother in Christ and preaching in Mexico. Also, given the fact that we’re so close to San Diego I’m praying about spending some time preaching in the Muslim community there. 
BROTHER ISMAIL
As I mentioned in my last email brother Ismail was able to purchase a motor bike with the monies that some of you sent. Here’s a picture of him on his new (used) bike. Thanks again to all who helped!
If you will, please keep us in prayer regarding our upcoming move and ministry. And we truly thank each of you that pray for us, support us financially, and for those who have sent us encouragement through email. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that brethren you know, and brethren you don’t know and may never meet this side of eternity, are lifting you and your family up in prayer. May the Lord bless you…. IN Christ, Sean & Lisa Scott & Family (Hannah, Hadassah, Ethan & Jeremiah) www.preachingjesuschrist.comwww.preachingjesus.wordpress.com
Greetings in Jesus Name!!
Just wanted to give an update about our time here in New Mexico. Things have finally started coming together and we’re just about finished with the work here. Everything was kinda put on hold due to an accident I had. Myself and another brother who was visiting us from California were working on a barn that we are converting into living space when I broke three fingers on my right hand (We still live in our trailer. We are converting the barn for other saints to use when that time comes). In New Mexico there are very high winds here. I had my hand right near the door hinges when a gust of wind slammed the door shut on my hand. It was very painful and I ended up with three fingers broken right below my knuckles. I just recently got the cast off and am able to bend my fingers enough to type. I’m still not able to make a fist but my range of motion is improving every day. Thank the Lord!
MINISTRY ON THE LAND
For those who don’t know the state of New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment. However, I think the majority of people, at least where we live, are Enchanted by evil spirit and are in bondage to all sorts of wickedness (especially drugs and alcohol). The Lord has bless us by having different contractors and people come to do various work here for us. So far everyone who has come is either on drugs or an alcoholic. The good thing is this has given me a steady stream of people to share the gospel with even when I don’t leave and go into town! We had an electrician do some work for us that was continually strung out on crack. In fact, he showed up one night at 2:00 am and worked till 5:00 without telling me he was coming. The whole time he was here that night all he did was hang one light! He was really strung out. But the Lord gave me so many opportunities to share the gospel with him and also to share how God through Christ delivered me from that lifestyle as well. This man would also bring a different worker with him every day which gave me someone new to preach too. Even though the guy took FOREVER to finish his work that should have taken him about two days to finish I saw that God had him here so we could continue to preach Jesus to him day after day.
Even today we had a final contractor come out to give us an estimate to complete the barn conversion. After we finished talking about the barn he asked me if I believe in aliens. That really came out of nowhere. Nevertheless, it was a great way to be able to spend the next three hours talking to him about the Gospel. I could definitely see the Lord was testifying to what I was sharing. The Lord gave me the grace to answer everyone of his objections and questions and to point him personally to Christ. He had some very real and genuine questions like.. Why does God allow suffering? Why did an all knowing God allow sin to come into this world? How could God kill whole peoples in the Old Testament? ect…ect. Those are all really good questions and it reminded me of when I had similar questions before I was converted. We as believers, need to realize that those are real and valid questions. We need to have the patience and ability to share with people the answers to these questions all the while continually directing people to their need for Christ. I really felt the Lord was doing a work in this man and he acknowledge that God “probably” had him here as well…though I’m quite certain He did!
We’ve also developed a great relationship with a family that lives about a mile behind us. It’s a husband and wife in their late 20’s and they have five children. Again the husband is an alcoholic but is very functional as far as still being able to talk and work. I met him one day in the winter when I was stuck in the snow. I was having a terrible day. One of those days where everything seems to go wrong. Then at night when I was trying to drive off the land, when I was about 20 yards from the exit, I got stuck in the snow and ice without a shovel. I was quite frustraighted at having to walk over a mile, in the dark, back to our place. When I finally got the shovel and made it back to the car our neighbor who I had not met, named Ben, had pulled up when he saw that we were stuck. He helped us get unstuck and I was able to share with him a little about Jesus. I realized that the whole ordeal was ordained by God. I was really repenting for my frustration and attitude as I saw God's greater plan. Since that time I’ve been able to spend many hours with Ben. Seems like almost every time we get together we’re able to spend a couple hours talking about God and the Gospel. The refreshing thing is almost all of his questions were sincere and asked out of a lack of knowledge. Many times when you talk to people about Christ you have to deal with one objection after another. That hasn’t been the case with him and his family. It’s really been a joy. In fact, when I explained to him the reason for Christ death on the cross he was really amazed. He said he had never heard why Christ had to die. It’s been a real joy sharing with him and seeing him gradually come to understand the truth that can save his soul and bring him to God.
Lisa has also had many opportunities to share with his children. Their children are about the same age as ours. One day Lisa was asking his kids if they knew about Jesus. They looked at her and said “Who’s Jesus?”. Pretty amazing. These kids knew nothing. Another time Lisa was in the trailer making a grocery list. She was kinda talking to herself as she wrote each item down that we needed to buy. One of his kids looked at Lisa and said “I hear voices in my head too!”. This young girl then proceeded to tell Lisa how she would hear voices talking to her. This was clearly demonic. Lisa was also telling this girl about the Lord and the girl kept telling Lisa that God was dead! Lisa spent time with her telling her about Jesus and His resurrection from the dead…telling her that Christ was alive. All of the sudden the girl opens our trailer door and yells to her brothers and sisters outside “you guys are wrong - God is not dead He’s alive!”. It was a joy to see. I'm sure demonic spirits and principalities were reeling at that proclamation! Since then their children have been very open to the things of God. We try to have them over as much as we can so we can sow the Gospel in their lives as well.
Ben, Tasha and their Children
NEAR MISS A few days ago I took my car into Albuquerque to have it worked on. It was going to take all day so I figured I’d just walk the streets and find people to talk to about Jesus. As I was walking down the sidewalk next to the street I hear a car engine rev up and the horn blowing. I turned around and saw a car coming right towards me. I literally jumped out of the way and then heard the car crash into another car and then turned around and saw it spin and hit the median. It’s was a really close call for me. No one was hurt but I stayed around till the police showed up. During that time an older man walked up and started talking with me. It wasn’t too long before I was able to start talking with him about Christ. It was really sad actually. He was from an Assembly of God Church. He proceeded to tell me all about being a founding member, about how they don’t believe any doctrine or teaching unless there are at least three scripture reference..ect..ect..ect. He could tell me all these things about his denomination that mean absolutely NOTHING and couldn’t tell me anything about knowing a personal living Christ and walking daily with Him. I was able to point this out to him in a gentle way and exhort him with his need for true saving faith. But I couldn’t help just thinking how many millions of people are just like this man. Able to tell you everything about their denomination, doctrines they believe that make them special, all about how their church functions and yet they know nothing of Christ and His salvation. Nothing of having Christ dwell in their hearts by faith, nothing of the witness of God’s Spirit, nothing of expecting the blessed hope of Christ return. Just dead empty tombs, void of the life of God, with a façade of Christianity that has no power. I really felt the whole ordeal was from God so I could speak to this man about the true condition of his soul. I’ve come to see in my own life that many situations that appear to be bad are often used by the Lord is such good ways. Either giving us opportunities to share the gospel or opportunities to be more conformed into the image of Christ. If you can see (and it really is true) that every situation no matter how bad can and is an opportunity for you to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit and bring you into more conformity to Christ..you can rejoice! When you truly understand this you can really give thanks to God, from the heart, no matter what situation you find yourself in. BROTHER ISMAIL For those who pray and periodically send support for brother Ismail - he and his family are doing well. They recently had to move from their house to a new location in the city. The place where they are now living is in even a more dense Muslim area giving them new opportunities to preach to their new neighbors. Brother Ismail still has his home fellowship and continues to minister and build up the relatively new converts that attend. He is also working on translating the “AnseringIslam.com” website into the Telegu language making the resources accessible to more believers. On a personal note, brother Ismail’s motor scooter recently broke down. It was their families only personal means of transportation. In fact when I was in India Ismail took me to several villages on his motor scooter. It was in such bad shape I really wondered if we would make it back and forth to the villages. Thankfully we did. But it did finally quit working. I want to say thanks to those of you who have recently sent support for Ismail. With the support, that came at the right time, he was able to purchase a new motor bike for him and his family almost paying it in full. He was able to purchase it from another brother who’s letting him pay the rest off in a month or so. Either way, Ismail and his family were extremely thankful and praising the Lord that they were able to get another means of transportation so soon. WHAT’S NEXT? - INDIA TRIP While I continue to do ministry around where we live I’m also praying and planning a trip to India by myself. Provided the funds are there, and the Lord brings it all together, I am praying and planning on making a trip to India soon. Lord-willing, I plan on staying for about 4 or 5 weeks and visiting some brethren as well as preaching in a heavily Muslim populated area in Northern India. Right now I’m tentatively planning on visiting a brother in Southern India as well. He and his wife are missionaries from the US and have been in India for about six months. From there I would be going to see brother Ismail who is preaching among Muslims about two hours from the village our family used to live in. I plan on holding some meetings together with him to preach the Gospel to the Muslims he’s working amongst. From there I would go to Northern India - West Bengal- and minister along side a brother and his wife who are working in a Muslim area where they are constantly persecuted for their faith (hopefully brother Ismail will be able to go with me as well). In fact, one of the believer's daughters was recently raped by one of the fanatical Muslims because they left Islam. They also face continual intimidation, have their bibles stolen, and sometimes are beaten for their faith. These believers meet and congregate in home fellowships. I will be able to hold meetings to exhort the brethren and hold meetings to preach the gospel to Muslims in that area. I believe the real thrust and purpose of this trip will be to work along side these believers in this dense Muslim area in Northern India. Lord-willing, as all this comes together I’ll send out another update. If you would like to help with the trip or find out more details you can email me directly. Again, this is something I’m praying about and seems to be a door that the Lord is opening for me at this time. Please keep me in prayer regarding this trip. Thank you to each of you who have kept us in prayer and encouraged us as we’ve sought to continue preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. IN Christ, Sean & Lisa Scott www.preachingjesuschrist.com
Just wanted to send out a quick update. We're still currently in New Mexico. Like a lot of the country we've had one snow storm after another. In some area's out here we've consistently had three to four feet of snow (here's some pic's after the county came and cleared the roads http://preachingjesus.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/snow/ ). Coming from living in Texas it's been quite an experience and very challenging at times. Especially trying to keep the road clear so we can get on and off the property. In fact, there were some times that we've barely been able to make if off the land. Thankfully though, it's really warming up and the snow is melting quite fast. As of now, it still looks like we'll be here quite a bit longer than expected. There are still a few things we need to finish and we need everything to be completely dry to do it. If you would, please pray for us and our ministry time here. The next two days we'll be driving into Gallup and Albuquerque and looking for areas where we can start doing street preaching and ministry starting this month . As of now we're planning on preaching in both unless we hear the Lord direct us to focus in just one area. I'm also writing a couple new tracts that I hope to have finished very soon. Lord-willing we'll be able to print a lot of these and use them in outreaches. Nothing fancy, just a basic gospel tract with a sound gospel message. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the streets and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Please keep us in prayer and pray that God's grace will be with us as we start preaching in these surrounding cities. Thank you all for your continued prayer. IN Christ, Sean & Lisa Scott www.preachingjesuschrist.com Current Blog Post: Repentance, Repentance, Repentance....where's the faith? www.preachingjesus.wordpress.com
Just wanted to send out an article I just wrote on The Roman Catholic Church and the Emergent Social Justice Gospel. We live in a day of ever growing apostasy where the Word of God is constantly attacked and the lines of truth are continually blurred. There is a great ecumenical move underway that will deceive multitudes of people into believing another Gospel and a different Jesus. This article is an attempt to just scratch the surface of this movement and hopefully shed some Gospel light on the subject. Here are the subject headings for the article: DREAM ABOUT APOSTASYROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
MOTHER THERESA
THE EMERGENT SOCIAL JUSTICE GOSPEL
THE GREAT COMMISSION - THE EMERGENT SOCIAL JUSTICE VERSION
REMOVING THE OFFENSE OF THE GOSPEL
ENVIRONMENTALISM AND THE GOSPEL?
WHAT IS THE FRUIT OF THIS GOSPEL?
WHERE DOES IT ALL LEAD? You can read it online at my blog: www.preachingjesus.wordpress.com God Bless.... IN Christ, Sean Scott
Just wanted to give an update on our stay at the land. We’ve been here now about three weeks and it’s been a real blessing. Actually, things are coming together very quickly. The land we have is at about 8,000 feet so it’s been getting cold. During the day it’s in the high 40’s and 50’s and at night it’s been between 4 and 27 degrees (in fact the pipes on our trailer freeze every night!). When we got here we contacted some contractors and talked to them about getting some work done on the land. We wanted to get septic put in, get a water tank, some gravel put in, a shed built, and a barn type dwelling. At first the contractors said it was getting too cold and they wanted to wait until the spring. However, a couple days later they decided to go ahead and do the work and they were working on the land a couple days after that. So right now we have everything done except the barn which should be here in a couple weeks. So, Lord-willing, we plan on staying here through December which should give us enough time to get everything finished. The land itself is really nice. It basically full of huge pine trees and surrounded by mountains. We’re on about 10 acres but we’re literally surrounded by thousands of acres of state and federal land. So the backyard seems almost endless! We’ve always lived in the city. Aside from us there are just a few other people nearby. However, we do see a lot of wildlife..especially deer and elk. In fact, I went on a hike a couple nights ago and as I was almost back to our trailer I walked right up on two elk. They’re big animals. I was about 100 feet from them and think I startled them as much as they startled me. In addition to getting things done here we’ve been using our time to stay in the Word of God and in prayer. I was telling a brother how easy, and fulfilling, it is when God is filling you with His Spirit and using you in ministry. It’s been much more difficult for me to be removed from all of that, to slow down some, have a little work to do and spend the rest of the time seeking the Lord. Not that seeking the Lord is difficult but more so being isolated, away from brethren and preaching. But I know the Lord is using this time to refresh our souls before He sends us back out. So I’m thankful the Lord is giving us this time to rest in Him. Extended times to be away from others to seek the Lord don’t come often so really we’re thankful for it. Below are some pic's of the land we're on I've also written about a few things I’ve been thinking about lately on my blog. I figured I would set up a blog to write about topics that don’t necessarily have to do with either our ministry or family update. You can read my post by clicking on this link: http://preachingjesus.wordpress.com/IN Christ, Sean & Lisa Scott www.preachingjesuschrist.com The Drive Up On the Property
A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. (Prov 16:9)
We’ve had a little change of plans since our last update. Being finished traveling around the country we had planned to go back to India to continue preaching with brethren and ministering to the lost. It was something we were really looking forward to and something we still long too do. However, just as the Lord stopped the Apostle Paul from preaching in Asia the Lord has stopped us from returning there at this time as well. We were actually in the process of making our plans to return when the Lord began to bring to pass a prophetic dream He had given Lisa about two and half years ago. For those who don’t know my wife, she frequently receives prophetic dreams from the Lord. Some come to pass very soon and some come to pass years later. With Lisa there are “usually” two main reasons why God gives her prophetic dreams. He gives them to sometimes confirm His specific will or direction in our life and sometimes He gives them to warn or correct a condition in a particular fellowship or a specific believer’s life. While there can be a great danger in and for those who run after dreams and visions this certainly hasn’t been our pursuit. The Lord, at least in our lives, seems to use them to confirm our steps and does so by bring to pass what He has shown. The dream the Lord gave Lisa a couple years ago had to do with us receiving land. The short version is that in her dream I came to her and told her that someone had bought land for us. I was carrying the title to the land in my hands. She asked me to see the title and on the back was written the name of the person who would buy the land. In another dream the Lord showed Lisa that the land would not only be provision for us but also for other saints. She received the dream about the land before we went to Mexico. I don’t believe I told anyone about it except for the brother and sister we preached with in Mexico. We didn’t know when it would come to pass but believed it was from the Lord. Since the time God gave Lisa the dream we’ve been to Mexico, India and have recently been traveling through the U.S. Our last stop before coming back to Texas was New Mexico. We had a short visit with a brother there and then were praying about what was next for us. In our hearts we’ve had a sincere desire to return to India and it even seemed as if doors where opening for us to return. However, as we were praying and planning on returning to India I received a call from the person (a believer) the Lord showed us who would buy the land. They stated we should consider getting land anywhere in the US, that they would buy it, and we could live on it and use it as a place we to stay when not traveling. They too also said they thought the Lord would use it at a later time for other believers. It was amazing. It was just as the Lord has shown Lisa in the dream. Even realizing this was from the Lord we had mixed feelings. We really desired to return to India and preach with the brothers that God gave us fellowship with. Yet at the same time, since God was bringing this to pass, it seemed as if the Lord would have us stay here at least for now. So we headed back to Texas and began to look for land. We were able to find some land outside of Texas and took a couple days to visit it. It seemed like an ideal place that would fit the purpose the Lord had shown us it would be for. We came back to Texas and began negotiating with the seller. At first he seemed to not want to come down any on the price. After some unfruitful negotiating it seemed as if might not get the land until the following year. I decided that if this was the case, that we were not going to get the land until later next year, that our family would return to India until then and continue preaching. I didn’t doubt that the Lord would provide it but thought maybe the timing was off. So I got online and booked five tickets to India. About an hour later I got this feeling that I had just made a mistake. It was a terrible feeling. I felt that I had moved ahead of God and that He still wanted to provide the land for us now. I then looked in my email at our ticket confirmations. When I looked at them I noticed that the online booking company had billed us for $800 more than the tickets cost! I got on the phone with them and they said since there was an error and that if I was unhappy they would refund our tickets! I really felt like this was of the Lord. I then felt led that we should call the seller of the land back and just give him the bottom price once again and see what he says. The person buying the land called him back and the seller accepted the offer! Just like that we now had land and our plane tickets were refunded! Again it was another moment of joy and sorrow. Joyful to see the Lord work and be in His will but sorrowful at the thought of not being able be with and preach with the brethren in India.
It might be hard for some to understand but having these two options has been difficult for us. It can be easy to let go of the things that we know that without question are sin. But it can be even more difficult to let go of things that, at times, can be good and even seem right…like going to a foreign land, preaching to the lost..ect. But even these desires, which may seem good, are things we must die to if the Lord would not have them for us at a particular time. Not that the desires are bad but fulfilling them outside of the the Lord’s timing and His will are what is wrong. We are called to live by the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit of God, and not by what seems best to us. This was a struggle for me through all of this but I’m glad the Lord took me through it. It’s the trials and testing’s that prove the genuiness of our faith and/or expose the condition of our hearts.
At the moment we are currently on our way to go stay on the land for a couple months. It’s undeveloped so we’re going to stay there in our travel trailer while it’s made more livable (having power, sewer, water, ect put in). After that we are planning to continue preaching to the lost ministering to brethren (wherever the Lord would have that be). It’s been kinda difficult even thinking about being there for a couple months and not actively engaged in ministry. But I’ve come to see the land and our time there as a family as a blessing from the Lord (and it is because He provided it!). Our family has been on travel mode for about the last two years. And since Feb our family has traveled quite a bit all over the U.S. in our travel trailer. So we are looking forward to spending some personal time as a family and being able to spend some extended time in prayer and reading and studying the word of God. And we rejoice to see the Lord’s provision not only for us but also for other believers in His timing.
I mentioned in my last update my (Sean) desire to see Muslims come to Christ. That hasn’t changed by any means. I still long to see that happen and for the Lord to use me and many others for that end. While I believe the Lord will do that I know that at this time God has directed our steps in a different direction and is fulfilling what He had revealed to us He would do.
While we’re there we should have internet access, so Lord-willing, I plan on writing and blogging some. We’ll also be able to send and respond to email.
If you think too, please keep our family in prayer. We are always in need of God’s continued grace in our lives. We are thankful for each of you who do pray for us.
We pray the Lord keep you during this hour and give you discernment to guard your soul. And may you truly long for the Lord’s glorious appearing and be found being a faithful servant ready to meet your Master when He returns!
IN Christ,
Sean & Lisa Scott
www.preachingjesuschrist.com
FINISHED TRAVELING THE U.S.
We are back in Texas. I do believe that we are done traveling through the US. Since our last update we’ve spent some time with brethren in East Texas, in New Mexico, and then back to Texas. Over the last six months we’ve probably traveled close to 7000 miles visiting different brethren while living out of our travel trailer. I certainly can’t say it’s been easy. In fact, in some ways it’s been more difficult than living in India or Mexico. While our trailer has been a blessing it’s certainly been challenging at times for our family of six to live in such a small space. (Lisa home schools three of our children and Jeremiah is about 14 months). However I’m often reminded of the fact that there are so many people, especially like those in some parts of India, who would love to have the comfort and conviences that we have even in our travel trailer. Only in America (or western country) can you pull a house behind your car that’s nicer than what so many people in the world live in every day. And, for about the last six or seven months it’s served as our home. So I really can’t complain! God has provided for our every need so abundantly and upheld us through every trial (which there have been many). While we’ve had the blessed opportunity to meet, fellowship with, and minister to some godly brethren, the Lord has also, through all this has continued to show His unfailing faithfulness to our family.
INDIA - REACHING MUSLIMS
So what’s next? Having finished what we believe the Lord has had us do we are now planning on returning to India to continue working with the brethren there, and Lord-willing, to specifically seek to work among the Muslims and see their conversion to Jesus Christ. God has truly given me a desire to see them come to Christ. It’s a burden God gave me shortly after my own conversion to Christ. Not only do I desire to see them receive eternal life in Christ I desire to see God glorified through the preaching of the Gospel among their communities (wherever they may be). God is glorified not only through their conversions but also through a Spirit filled bold proclamation of the Gospel in spite of their sometimes murderous threats and hostility to the message we preach. Sometimes you may be like Paul in Corinth and see many people come to Christ or you could be like Stephen and deliver a God glorifying message and then go be with the Lord. In either case, each man was resolved to do the will of God and God had different means for using them for His glory. We should know that whatever the Lord chooses for us will be used for His glory and possibly open a door for the Gospel to go forth.
If you’ve ever watched a video like “The Third Jihad” (which you can watch it online for free if you google it) you will see the shear boldness and determination of Muslims all over the world to preach Islam without shame and without fear of the consequences they may face. (By the way, if you do watch it the video is not done by a Christian nor is it appropriate for minors. Also, if you’re unable to watch Muslim “extremist” without getting angry or feeling vengeful at them then please do not watch it. ) When I see videos like this, or personally encounter Muslims like this, I get a burning Jealousy for the true God to receive the glory He is due. It grieves my heart to see so many people deceived into believing such a demonic lie and to see them so utterly bold and committed to what they believe. And then when you look at modern Christendom you can hardly find men that are truly willing to lay down their lives for the name of Jesus Christ! What a tragedy considering the truth that we have. Is not our God worthy of greater commitment and bold proclamation of the Gospel by those who call themselves by His name? By looking at the zeal and commitment to Christ in modern Christendom you would hardly think many Christians have really met the Lord (which is the case many times) or have something of eternal importance to offer those they believe are truly perishing.
Now obviously believers do not wage war the same way a Muslim would. We don’t seek the death of those who oppose us, or push for conversion by force or intimidation, nor do we seek to over throw governments and make them conform to Christian teachings. We seek to see non-believers “come to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. (John 17:3)” We seek for them to experience the same salvation we have received. For the Holy Spirit to shed abroad the love of God in their heart by faith. And for God to receive praise from those for whom He died. It is a message of life, redemption, and reconciliation by a loving God. Not that we must all become open air preachers and take to the streets but our commitment should compel us to be like the Lord, that together with the Lord, we “seek to save that which is lost”. If we as believers are going to see greater numbers of Muslims come to Christ then we are going to have to truly lay our lives down for that to happen. What I mean is that we must be willing to die, in some cases literally, so that others might know Christ. Jesus said “Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal“. In that passage Christ is talking about His soon coming death and subsequent resurrection from the dead. We who believe are part of the “much fruit” brought forth by Jesus Christ. Yet this same truth is how God brings forth fruit in our lives. Not necessarily through physical death, though it might be in some cases, but through our forsaking our lives and completely living for the will of God. To be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), to be totally given over the revealed will of God in His word and the specific will of God for our individual lives. Which, to some degree will ALWAYS include being part of brining in souls into the kingdom of God. I am convinced of the fact that if we are to see a greater number of people come to Christ, especially from the fastest growing religion in the world, then we are going to have to see more believers lay their lives on the line for this to happen. And think about it, if God rejoices in heaven when one sinner repents then may we all be part, to whatever degree we can, of something we know brings God such joy. We MUST get to the place where we can say like Paul that we are willing to suffer all things for the elects sake that they too may obtain the salvation in Jesus Christ (2 Tim 2:10). (While I’m specifically talking about Muslims in this email it goes without saying we should have the same zeal and attitude to reach all those who don’t know Christ).
So for us, by the grace of God, it seems the Lord has brought our family full circle and is now allowing us to go back to India and continue preaching there with the expectancy that the Lord will continue to use us to work with and edify the believers we’ve met and to preach the gospel in Muslims areas. Since leaving India I’ve often pondered in my heart why the Lord provided 5 year residency permits for us only to send us back to the US after 6 months. Our getting the residency permits was truly the work of a sovereign God. (you can read about it here: http://www.preachingjesuschrist.com/2/archives/12-2008/1.html ) Even though it all didn’t make sense at the time we knew it was the will of God for us to return to the US at that time. We just had to trust the Lord knew what He was doing even if we didn’t understand everything. Yet in all things God knew and accordingly provided the appropriate papers we would need the first time we where there. So at the moment we are eagerly, and prayerfully, looking forward to returning to India. We don’t have a date set but, Lord-willing, we are praying and planning to leave as soon as we have the finances to do so. We have about 2/3rd of the funds need for out tickets and are believing God to provide the rest of our needs to return soon. (If you’d prayerfully like to help, we have support info at the bottom of our page).
BROTHER ISMAIL UPDATE
I know that some of you who read our site have sent support for brother Ismail so I wanted to give a quick update on him. For those who are new to our site he is a brother in Christ who translated for me during part of my time in India. After being kicked out of his denominational church, for preaching more of the truth, he began a home church with a few Muslim converts. At the moment he still has his home fellowship with four converts from Islam. He also has a Muslim man who regularly come but is not yet converted. Brother Ismail always sounds joyful when I talk with him but I know at times he is threatened by some of the husbands of the some of the women believers who attend his fellowship. If you remember, please keep him and his family in prayer and pray God would continue to make him bold in preaching the Gospel.
NOT BEING IDLE
I know that many believers have a real sense of urgency regarding the lateness of the hour we live in and a true sense from the Lord that things in this country will be changing very soon. It seems the Lord has been giving many of His saints the same type of warnings and exhortations. God has given many people direction to prepare, even if simple, provision for their family and other saints. But what else would God have us do during the time? Because we are in a spiritual battle there is a real danger, even in doing with will of God, to get sidetracked from other things God has called us to do. I specifically want to give everyone a warning to not forget to be laboring in the vineyard of the Lord (Matt 20:1-16) and praying for or going into the harvest yourself. (Matt 9:37,38) While there are several interpretations (even applications) to the passage of the Lord sending laborers out in His vineyard in Matt 20, I would like to highlight just the simple fact that even in the eleventh hour, so very late in the day, the Lord still sent out laborers to work in His vineyard. “And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.” (Matt 20:6,7). And even in this late hour, we who believe, should be busy about our Father’s business. Whether it be ministering to brethren within the church or praying and going in the Lord’s harvest to see others come to know Jesus Christ and be reconciled to God. In reality we should be busy and committed to both. Even our prayers on behalf of others are a sweet and acceptable sacrifice before God (Rev 8:4) AND are the means by which the Lord accomplished much of His will on earth. Don’t allow yourselves to become idle but rather be found “fervent in spirit serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). In fact, that verse says IN DILIGENCE be not slothful, but fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Even with realization of the lateness of the hour we live let it not cause us to be idle just waiting for things to happened but let us be found being even MORE diligent in serving the Lord! Like the apostle Paul, let us labor according to the grace of God within us. (1 Corth 15:10) God has given each believer a measure of grace and with that grace we can labor in the things of God, keeping our eyes on “things above”, laying up treasure in heaven. Again, don’t let the darkness of the time we live in or the lateness of the day cause you to be “idle and slothful” as it relates to your life in the kingdom of God.
May the Lord bless you in Jesus Name.
IN Christ,
Sean & Lisa Scott
( http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=message&task=view&MID=QB007GRB&GroupID=0T027P8D&label=&paging=all )
Traveling
This last month and a half we’ve been busy traveling and visiting brethren in different parts of the country. We spent the first part of June visiting brother Jim in Detroit. He regularly goes to the inner city and club districts to preach the gospel. I was able to join him a few times as he and some brethren preached in these area’s. It reminded me a lot of when Lisa and I would go to South Dallas to preach. So many people with hardened hearts and many who actually know much of the word of God. All professing to be saved believers yet living as if they’ve never met Christ. And the truth is probably 98% of them professing to know Christ have never met Him. It really is amazing that you can preach the gospel for the first time to someone who professes to believe in Christ. It truly is a sad condition in the world today. In all this though the Lord continues to give us great grace to preach to others. Though I’ve spent much time street preaching lately I’ve been praying that God would lead me to people who have a receptive heart.. People who He has been working in. God had been greatly answering my prayers! I can’t tell you how many people the Lord has led me to recently who have been completely opened to the gospel. It really has been a blessing. One day while I was backing up our trailer into Jim’s driveway and having some difficulty. As I was going back and forth, back and forth trying to get it lined up and a guy starts yelling at me giving me directions to back it in. We finally get it in and I get out to meet this guy. His name is Ernest. Come to find out he’s an ex-gang member and lives down Jim’s street. I gave him a gospel tract and told him we should get together sometime and do a bible study. He said ok and walked off. A couple days later Lisa and I were walking the kids around the neighborhood and I saw Ernest in front of his house. We stopped and talked with him and learned he had a Catholic background. He told us of confession, going to mass, and all the other unscriptural practices of the Catholic Church. He wasn’t very committed to the Catholic church he was just semi-raised a Catholic. We told him what the word of God said on each subject, were able to share our testimony with him, and talk to him about the necessity of the new birth. He was really open and we set a time to start having bible studies with him. Basically since that day we’ve been able to have a bible study with him and his son just about every day. It’s been amazing. We’ll be reading through the scriptures and he’ll just breakdown in tears and see his need for the Lord. He really is hearing the gospel for the first time. We just continue to pray for him, teach him the word, and exhort him to put his faith in Jesus Christ. It would be so easy to just ask him to “accept Christ” and pray a prayer with him and to declare him saved. This happens so often in Christendom today. And as one brother put it people end up “plucking unripe fruit”. When and if Ernest get’s saved it will be because God has given him a revelation that Christ has personally died for him and he truly believes it. No one will have to tell him he is saved…. God’s Spirit will tell Him! And that is true assurance. Though the Lord uses His saints to reach His elect, salvation is of the Lord. As John 1:12,13 says:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Here’s a picture of me and Ernest outside of Jim’s place: While in Detroit we took a few days to visit a sister Lisa had been in contact with in Canada. It was very edifying time and seemed ordained of God for us to be their at that time to edify our sister in Christ. After being in Detroit for about three weeks we headed over to Rhode Island to visit another brother and sister in Christ. It was a challenging trip as it rained almost the whole time we were there and our car had some major trouble and was in the shop a few days. Even with all that we had a blessed time in fellowship exhorting them with the word of God. We stayed in Rhode Island for a week and headed back to Detroit. When we got back to Detroit Ernest was able to give us a place to park our trailer at his place. We were able to spend more time with him and his mother in the word. So right now we’re staying at his place and ministering to him and his family. The good thing is when we’re not here brother Jim will be able to continue to teach him the word and hopefully see him born again into the body of Christ!
We’ll be leaving Detroit this weekend to visit a family in Pittsburgh for a couple days and then we’ll be headed back down to Texas. Lord-willing we’ll be in Texas for a few weeks to rest together as a family , visit Josef and Lina as they come up from Mexico, and fellowship with some brethren living in Texas. It’s been a lot of travel but it’s been a joy to fellowship with and to encourage the saints of God!
Scattered Sheep
As we’ve traveled we’ve seen many of God’s people who lack fellowship and often times find themselves isolated due to the condition of the church today. Sometimes people come out of the institutional church seeing the falsehood in it. Yet many times they then lack fellowship due to their inability to fellowship with those who hold to different view’s on biblical topics. Many times when believers come out of these churches they go through a period of being alone. They also get used to this and find it difficult to fellowship with other saints. Again…especially those who hold different view’s on biblical topics. Yet the scripture is clear when it says:
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25)
It is absolutely important, no matter where we find ourselves, to be in fellowship with other saints of God. To worship the Lord together, and as the scripture says, to exhort one another as we see the “day” approaching. Even if a believer cannot agree with another believer on every point of doctrine (provided it’s not heretical) then believers should be able to fellowship with each other. I fellowship with many believers who believe differently than I do on many subjects yet the common factor that makes our fellowship possible is the desire to carry our cross in Christ. The desire to live our lives completely for Christ. This is not to say that doctrine doesn’t matter. Your doctrinal views on some subjects may cause you to have to “part ways” when it comes to teaching or ministry in some area’s BUT it should never cause you part ways in being able to love, pray with, and exhort your brethren in Christ.
I know there are many who say they cannot find true fellowship. And this could be the situation in some cases. Some might be in a place where they actually cannot find true brethren to fellowship with or at least for a season of time. Yet I’m not convinced it’s as common as I hear. I know that if someone is truly the Lord’s they will desire to fellowship with other saints and will seek it out. They know that the body of Christ and interacting with the body of Christ is of utmost importance. They will want to be around others who also have the Spirit of Christ in them. If they truly do not have fellowship they will be praying that God will bring them into contact with other believers and actively pursing it. It will be more important than the city they live in, the house they have, or the job they hold. (I know that me and my wife be willing to forsake any of those things to be around brethren.) For some that absolutely cannot find fellowship where they are at, if possible, it may be necessary to forsake those things and move to where some brethren are. Even if it‘s a place you don‘t like! Some will say they fellowship with other saints through the internet, which in part might be true, but it will certainly never replaces the type of interaction we are to personally have as the body of Christ. If that’s your only source of fellowship, while you are seeking true fellowship in a body or with another believer, then praise God. But don’t give in and settle for it when Christ has died for us to be part of something so much greater! If you do find yourself in a position where you have no fellowship then actively pray to the Lord about it. Begin to pray for the saint’s of God and ask the Lord to bring you in contact with another saint or a group of saints that you can fellowship with. You’ll certainly be praying in the will of God!
Thank you for praying for us, and if you remember, please keep us in prayer as we travel through PA and head back to Texas.
IN Christ,
Sean & Lisa Scott
www.preachingjesuschrist.com
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NEW MEXICO and TEXAS
It’s been a month since my last update and a lot has happened since then. We had a good time while we were in New Mexico and were able to fellowship with some dear brethren in Christ and spend some time evangelizing and preaching. We were in a little town called Alamogordo. It’s a much smaller town then a city like Dallas. This made it a little more difficult to find area’s where people congregate to preach and share the gospel. However, aside from preaching at the mustang show that I mentioned in our last update we were to go to the local Earth Day festival. Each year in probably most cities there is an Earth Day event to “celebrate” the earth and promote “green” technology and things like that. In some parts of the country this day is almost like a religion to many people. It didn’t seem like that was the case in Alamogordo but it was good to be around a lot of people to share with. Myself and two other brothers went to the event. It was held on the Zoo grounds with Police there so we opted not to open air preach and instead talked to people one on one and passed out gospel tracts. I actually spent almost all my time there talking to just one man. I went and talked to a man who was the organizer/promoter for a traveling basket ball team called the “Harlem Trotters”. They are a like the Harlem Globe Trotters and travel the country putting on basket ball shows. Come to find out the father of the man I was talking to was recently converted and delivered from being a drunk. So this man was open to what I had to share. He listened and even had what seemed to be serious questions about the Lord. As we finished our conversation he asked me if I’d like to come to their basket ball game the next evening and pray for the team. I told him I would come if I could preach to them! He thought about if for a minute and said that would be fine. He gave me a couple free tickets to their basket ball game for the following night. The next day myself and a brother named Tracy arrived at the game early so we could preach to them before the game. Because they were busy we got pushed back and were told we could share with the team during half time. So Tracy and I continued to pray and were able to go into their locker room during the half time. It seemed like the Lord really blessed our time. We had the attention of the whole team and were able to preach the gospel to them. I’m not sure that’s what they were expecting. They were probably expecting someone to come and tell them how they could “do all things through Christ” how “Christ could make them successful in their endeavors”…ect. Not sure but that’s usually what happens at these type of events. Instead we preached on the vanity of life, the foolishness of dreams and aspirations and worldly glory, how God views sin, how God views THEIR sin, and the wonderful grace of God to provided redemption through His Son Jesus Christ. It certainly wasn’t a half time pep rally but we prayed God would use us to bring some sobriety to their lives and cause them to think on Jesus Christ and His eternal kingdom. A couple of the guys seemed to really listen and were even thankful at the end. They had to leave because half time was over so Tracy and I spent some time praying for them before we left. We were able to leave them with some Gospel tracts and some video and audio sermons. It really was a blessed time. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord can open the doors to preach in places you would never think of.
One of the prayers I’ve been praying much lately is that God would lead me to people that He’s been working in. Those whom God Himself is drawing. Not that we’re not to preach to all types of people as the Lord brings them into our path but just specifically that God would bring in my path those who have softer hearts towards the Gospel. The Lord definitely answered my pray. One day while I was driving around with my son looking for a place to preach we pulled into a park I had not seen before. After I pulled in I started talking with a man and soon our conversation turned towards Christ. He said he was born again years ago but since then has practically led a life apart from the Lord. His marriage had just ended and he had lost his job. He was wondering what to do about his situation while at the park and then we pulled up. It was definitely the Lord. I was able to talk with him about Christ and invited him to the house where we were staying at. He came over a couple times and we were able to spend some time ministering to him. We encouraged him to meet some of the other brethren there and we started meeting with him weekly to go through the scriptures. While we were there we saw a definite change in his life as he began to agree with God’s word about his condition and what he needed to do. One of the brothers there is continuing to meet with him on a weekly basis. We’re praying for a complete work in his life.
Another time I was at Walmart checking out. I began talking with the man behind me. He was trying to quit morphine which he had been on for many years to deal with back problems. I shared with him how Christ had delivered me and my wife from heroin and other drugs. We talked all the way out to his car. He had been reading the bible but from what he’d told me I wouldn’t say he was born again. He just broke down in his car and began confessing all the horrible things he’s done in his life. Most of his grief seem to be from realizing the hurt he had caused others. Though that is obviously important I tried to direct his focus from others to God. Helping him see that it was God who he had offended and ultimately sinned against. That it was God whom he needed to be forgiven and accepted by. I was able to share the gospel with him and pray for him. Unfortunately he didn’t live in that city and was only passing through. Lord-willing God will water that seed and continue to give it increase.
One of the things I’ve noticed as I’ve met different believers and something I shared with a brother while we were in New Mexico is there is a real lack of faith in many of the Saints of God. Sounds like a contradiction but it’s true. As Leonard Ravenhill once said many Christians are “unbelieving believers”. They believe on Christ for their salvation but seem to stop there and come short of all that God has for us in Christ. It also seems that many believers have an unhealthy or unbiblical focus on sin. Though we should understand sin for what it is and repent of it when we do sin our focus should be on the living Christ. It is when our eyes are on Him that we are able to overcome sin and walk in victory. 2 Peter 1:2-4 says:
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
God has given us everything we need for LIFE (abundant) and GODLINESS and it come through the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s through knowing God. Life and Godliness do not come through our performance of religious duties or the continual looking at the sin in our fallen nature but through knowing God as He is. This passage also says God has given us exceeding great and precious promises that by these we may partake of the divine nature. It is through faith in God’s promises that we partake of and experience God more and are conformed into His image. God’s divine nature being manifested through us. It’s not dwelling on our own wretchedness or sin nature that causes us to grow in Christ. It is dwelling on Jesus and believing all that God has said in His word. And especially the promises He has given us in Christ. Doing this will bring the abundant LIFE that God has given us in Jesus Christ. . Remember back when you were converted? Seeing your sin brought you despair which led you to Christ. Seeing Christ brought you new life. It no different once one is a believer in Jesus which is why Paul exhorts the Colossians by telling them “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” You started out in faith…walk day by day in faith….finish in faith. It’s such a simple truth that we so often miss that one way or the other greatly affects our growth in Christ.
After our time in New Mexico came to an end we headed back to Dallas to spend a few weeks helping my mother move and to get a trailer she had offered to get us. Getting a trailer really was an answer to prayer as it enables our family to have a place to stay, if needed, as we travel around the country. Here’s a couple pic’s of our family and the travel trailer before leaving Texas:
The Lord certainly directed our steps as we looked for a trailer. In fact, we had two trailers we were going to look at in different cities and the Lord quickened the name of one of the cities to my wife in the morning we were going to look. One was in Grandburry and one was in Justin. The city Justin was the city that God shared with my wife to go too. We ended up looking at the one in Grandbury first and then the one in Justin. As we pulled up to the one in Justin we were told it was just sold. It was a much nicer trailer and would have worked better for us than the one in the other city. But the man selling the trailer, Ken, said his friend had another one like it for sale so we decided to look more at the trailer. While I was looking at it my wife was talking to him and found out he was a new believer in Christ of about a year and half. He had a glow in his face as he talked about Jesus and how He had changed his life. We told him a little about our testimony and he asked if we would come in and share it with his family. We were able to share how the Lord had forgiven our sins through Christ and delivered us from drugs and the lifestyle that goes with it. Before going into his house he let me attach the trailer to our SUV so I could see how it pulls. I’ve never pulled any type of trailer so I wasn’t sure how it all worked or if our vehicle would do it. As we were driving Ken shared his testimony with me. It’s amazing to see how the Lord can reach anyone He wants to. Ken shared how he was unhappy with life and didn’t know what to do. He said he felt the need to go talk to a man who live close to them whom he knew. This man had never shared the gospel with Ken before. To make a long story short Ken ends up talking with this man who shares the Gospel with him. Ken repents and gets born again! No man preaching to him just God leading him to someone who will preach the Gospel to him in HIS timing. It was a wonderful thing to see this man, who’s over 6 feet tall and pretty built (he was a former weight lifter) shed tears when he was talking about how Christ had changed his life! It reminded me of the scripture in 1 Peter 1:8:
“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:”
That is one of the definite true marks of all who have experienced the saving Grace God in Jesus Christ. Though we’ve never seen Him..we love Him and rejoice with joy unspeakable! This Christ we at one time had only heard about becomes the Christ we know personally and fills us with His peace and joy.
Though we didn’t get a trailer that day we left rejoicing that we were able to know a brother in Christ and share in his joy in Christ. The great thing was the next day Ken calls and said the buyer of his trailer backed out and we could purchase it if we wanted to. We ended up purchasing the trailer for our travels.
DELIVERED FROM SEXUAL SIN
I wanted to share a testimony of a brother in Christ who recently was delivered from bondage to sexual sin. To me his deliverance powerfully show’s the truth of God’s word and is an example of thorough repentance. While I would never comfort people who are in bondage to any sin that they are God’s children it is true that sometimes God’s children can for a time fall away ; so to speak. I say for a time because those who are truly born of God, the Elect of God, overcome the world. What must be encouraged though is for one to make their “calling” and their “election” sure. The only sure place of assurance is having the witness of the Spirit of God and true faith in Christ that naturally produces a holy life. Well this brother who was genuinely converted had become in bondage to pornography. It was something he struggled with and made him miserable. I can remember talking with him and knowing that he was indeed truly grieved and wanted to overcome it. He was a brother I had been praying for and God had given me the faith to believe he would be delivered. Then one day he shares with me how God completely delivered him! He basically came to the end of himself and fell on His knees crying out to God for deliverance. God heard his prayer and completely set him free. I share this because I know there are many who want deliverance and freedom from different sorts of sins but are truly unwilling to lay helplessly before God and ask for mercy. Though their own efforts have never brought them freedom in the past they continue to seek it their own way instead of crying out to God for mercy in true repentance. Not only was this brother delivered from sexual sin but he immediately began removing and selling all the things that he had purchased and used to try to numb his conscience and that kept him entangled to the world. Mostly things to keep one entertained and put to sleep spiritually…movies, games, entertainment systems…ect. He knows that believers are called to live a simplistic life separated from the world. He truly believes, and I do as well, that God has delivered him in this eleventh hour of the time we live in.
While not all are called to sell their home and travel from place to place we are certainly all called to live a simple life free from the entanglements of this world. It would do well for professing believers, like this brother, to take inventory of their life and see what they spend there time on and how it either agrees or disagrees with the word of God. Though many may not be in bondage to sexual sin there are many who are in bondage to other forms of entertainment or activities that consume their time and keep them from seeking “those things which are above”. (Col 3:1) Dear reader, it would do you well in this late hour to do the same before God and make your calling and election sure. Don’t make the mistake many others do by judging themselves by others instead of judging themselves by the word of God.
TO DETROIT
On Monday we left Texas and are currently on our way to Detroit to fellowship and preach with a brother name Jim. Brother Jim has a web site called www.fleebabylon.com . Lord-willing, while we’re there, we plan on preaching at one of the largest gatherings of Muslims in the country. It’s an annual event which I believe is held in or near Dearborn MI. We figured it would take us about three days to get to Detroit if we took our time. However, here it is Friday and I’m sitting in Kentucky writing this update (about half way there). When we left the Dallas area we drove from maybe an hour and a half and one of the trailer tires blows out on the highway. We called AAA - which didn’t cover the trailer - but they did call a guy from firestone name Billy out to change our tire. Then we tried to start the car but the car wouldn’t start! Apparently you’re not supposed to leave the hazard lights on when the car is off because it drains your battery. So after we got a jump start and had the tire changed we were back on our way. We had traveled about 45 minutes down the highway and another trailer tire blows out! Now I’m thinking were in more trouble because we’re in between cities and we don’t have a spare tire because we just put it on the trailer. I called AAA again and they sent out the same firestone guy. I made sure he brought two tires so I would have another spare. It took him about an hour to get to us. He was surprised to be changing our tire again. I told him that since he had come out twice the Lord must want me to talk to him about Jesus. He told me if I had talked to him the first time I probably wouldn’t have had to have him come back out! I did get to share with him and he was very open. He really did listen and seem as if the Lord had brought another person in my path whom he had been working in. The man said he had been born again when he was 17. Like many he had walked an aisle, said a prayer, and then led a life with NO visible fruit. He was a false convert. I gave him a tract and went over some scriptures with him. He invited me to call him if I come back through. He finished changing our tire and we were back on the road. We stopped in Arkansas at a R.V park and stayed the night. At about two in the morning Ethan started having trouble breathing. Sometimes he gets asthma attacks when he gets sick. We gave him some asthma medicine but it wasn’t working but was getting worse. I took him to the local hospital and they gave him some breathing treatments. It still wasn’t working too well so they admitted him and he stayed there the next two days. Thankfully he got better and we were on our way again. We drove for about 45 minutes and another trailer tire blew out!! This time it was one of the new tires we had just put on. This was starting to get a little overwhelming. Thankfully we had our flat next to an auto place and a man changed our tire for us. I then pulled into a tire place to have them look at the tires. The first two tires were old and they think the third one was just a bad tire. I went ahead and had the other tires replaced as well. I then went to an RV place and had them look at the travel trailer. They said there was nothing wrong and didn’t know why we were having all these flats. We continued on and at about 2 am found ourselves in the middle of a really bad storm with high winds. Never having driven a trailer before it was kinda nerve wracking and dangerous. We pulled over at a RV park and decided to stay there for the night. So currently we’re in Bowling Green KY and have spent yesterday and today at the RV park getting some rest before we head out tomorrow morning. Lord-willing we’ll be able to drive the last 8 hours tomorrow and make it to Jim’s place.
I have to say by the time we where admitting Ethan to the hospital and then having the third flat tire I was beginning to wonder if we were in God’s will and was flooded with all sorts of thoughts of doubt. Not just about going to Detroit but also our family living out of a travel trailer with no permanent home. (Lisa wrote some of the same thoughts I had on her blog yesterday: www.LisaScott.weebly.com ) I realize these were just fiery darts from the wicked one in the midst of our trials. I truly believe, though God allowed, our current trials were Satan seeking to hinder us. I was reminded of how Paul, when seeking to visit the Thessalonians, was hindered by Satan (1 Thes 2:18). The Lord also reminded me how the Apostle Paul suffered all kinds of things, even shipwreck, as he obeyed the will of God for his life. Just because God called him somewhere didn’t guarantee his safe passage or an easy journey. Paul also stated he had no permanent dwelling place (1 Cor 4:11) Not that this is everyone’s call but this seems to be the call of God for us at this time. The Lord greatly comforted me with these verses. The thing is these are truths that I already know and have experienced. But just because you’ve walked victoriously in a trial and know scriptural truth on a subject does not guarantee you’ll walk victoriously every time. We must daily walk with the Lord allowing Him to mold us into the image of Christ through every trial we experience. And certainly the trials ahead of all of us are only going to increase (with greater consequences) as the days get more evil and God begins to intensify His judgments on this earth. Let us be like Paul and realize in all trials, weaknesses, persecutions..ect are opportunities that in our weakness Christ can be strong. (1 Cor 12:9,10) It really is a blessed place to be where the power of Christ can rest upon you and God can be glorified.
If you will, please keep us in prayer as we continue our travels north and for God to continue to enable us to preach boldly as He leads.
IN Christ,
Sean & Lisa Scott
www.preachingjesuschrist.com
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