The Time Machine

By Rey Daiz

It’s never good to have favorites when it comes to kids.  While I was a teacher in Honduras, I would always say, “They are my second favorite.”  Everyone was my second favorite. But really I did have a favorite.  It’s a young man named Douglas. 

I met Douglas a kid in 2004.  He worked in the garbage dump with his parents and older siblings.  I was at his sixth grade graduation.  And this December, I was at his High School graduation.  I invested more in him than in any of the others because I sensed something in his heart.  He is a bigger boy with the tough guy reputation but he has the most sensitive, generous, and pure hearts. I was so proud of him at his graduation.  You can probably tell by the picture.  Maoly, the girl pictured next to him, also graduated and is another one of my favorites.

Douglas and Maoly are witnesses of God’s wonderful grace.  Living martyrs. They are devoted followers of Jesus.  They have escaped the garbage dump.  They have escaped the many temptation of their communities.  They have fought, and with God's help, have overcome insurmountable odds.  Now they are both on their way to university.  They are already agents of transformation in their communities.  

The cycle of poverty has been broken.  The power of sin has been broken.  It’s complete.  It’s done.  It’s finished.  This is the abundant life Jesus promised.  

After graduation, I found pictures of that sixth grade graduation of the senior class.  Their class was three times as big- but only Antonio, Douglas and Maoly made it through High School.  

One is a gang member, currently in jail.

Another works as basically an indentured servant.

Two are single parents raising their kids. 

So although I rejoice with these two, part of me is broken for the ones who have fallen.  All of them had the same opportunities.  Some made wise choices.  Others made unwise choices.  

I wondered, what if there had been a time machine back at their sixth grade graduation?  What if they could have gotten inside, gone forward, seen their High School graduation, college, future possibilities?  Then go back.  What choices would they have made? Anything different?  Of course.

You see, wisdom is a time machine.  Wisdom grants us access to God’s will.  Wisdom shows us which is the best path.  Wisdom leads to life. 

Wisdom is a time machine and the wise make decisions based on the end. 

It’s easy to see where these children in the garbage dump went wrong.  It’s not so easy to see where we go wrong in our own lives.  Which is why we need wisdom.  All of us need wisdom. 

I have challenged the church to get into the time machine by reading a proverb everyday during the month of January.  On January first, we are all going to read Proverbs 1. 

Will you join us?  Will you get in the time machine with us?

The Celebration that Never Ends

Washington Cathedral is celebrating the Christmas season this week! Come join us and I challenge you to invite others to come and experience the glory of Christmas together with you at Washington Cathedral’s many celebrations!

Last night our small group "Diamonds in the Rough" went caroling around the neighborhood where we meet and invited the neighbors to celebrate Christmas at Washington Cathedral.  

We told them about all the great and exciting things happening. The candlelight worship, the children's manger scene, the adult and children's choirs, the cherub dancers, and the positive message of Christmas.  

We them invited to stay after the service to continue the celebration with free carriage rides, hot chocolate and Christmas cookies, Santa's workshop, a snow making machine, gingerbread cookie decorating for kids, and free pictures with Santa for families. 

Everyone seemed to love it.  In 29 years of going door to door, this was the most positive reception I have received.  Maybe it was the great singing, but moreover I think it was Christmas – it’s in the air.  The world has never needed a Christmas more in my lifetime than this year. 

Who could you invite to the one hour services this week?

Services are at:

·      Saturday at 5:30pm

·      Sunday at 9:30am and 11:00am (We will even have the game on after the service at 11 am)

·      Monday at 6:00pm

·      Tuesday at 4:00pm, 6:00pm, and 11:30pm

God can really use you to bring the joy and the magic of Christmas to touch someone’s life this year.  I am praying for you.  You can do it!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White 

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.  Luke 2:1

What’s the Appropriate Response to Witnessing a Miracle?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

 Last week a friend of mine asked me, "What is the appropriate response to experiencing a miracle?" Shout? Jump? Scream? Cry? My friend experienced a supernatural healing from a cyst in his left vocal cord and his reaction (You can read about it and see the before and after pictures here: www.michaelpatz.com).

 That same night, I experienced a miracle. And it was my turn to write - 'God is amazing. There are not words. I'm stunned. I'm shocked. I’m utterly overwhelmed.' 

It's not an easy thing to witness a miracle. To see pure beauty. Relentless grace. Unending love. What's the appropriate reaction? I want to cry. I want to shout. I want dance. I want to fall on my knees.

A life permanently changed. A child finds their Heavenly Father's love and experienced his grace. Rescued. Redeemed. Transformed.

 This is Dulce when I first met her near the garbage dump.

 Dulce means "sweet." But Dulce's life has been anything but sweet. She was raised in the garbage dump by her siblings. No father. An absent mother. Her grandparents took her in but they had to continue working in the garbage dump to have food for their grandchildren.

 So Dulce and her siblings learned to scavenge in the garbage dump. Last year, Dulce's brother, Kevin, was run over by a garbage dump, dying instantly. She grieved. She cried. But life continued. So it seemed her name was a cruel joke. There was nothing sweet about her life. 'Bitter' would have been more accurate.

 Psalms 68:5 - A father to the fatherless…

 But God intervened. It's His modus operandi…
 To offer hope when it seems hopeless.
 To rescue when it seems impossible.
 To give life to the lifeless.

 God intervened through AFE. Through people who were willing to serve. Dulce's family received a house. Her siblings started school. The family found support at church.

 The AFE nursery took in Dulce. They loved her, protected her, and fed her while her grandmother and grandfather were at the dump during the day. Dulce then started kindergarten. And she has just graduated. She is on her way.

 Why can't she be a future leader in Honduras? Why can't she bring about the change the country so desperately needs? Why can't she be an example to all the other thousand of children who are still captured in the cycle of poverty? So I ask again, what’s the appropriate response to witnessing a miracle?

Faith that Overwhelms Fears

By Pastor Rey Diaz

Black Friday is for people who love crowds, lines, and chaos.  I prefer Cyber Monday.  From the comfort of my computer desk, I can go to Amazon.com and buy Christmas presents for the whole familoggerly.  I love it.  It’s Dec 1^st and I’m already done with all my Christmas shopping.  It’s not just the convenience of shopping but the amazing delivery as a prime member.  All my packages arrive in two days (I promise you I’m not getting a kick back from the people at Amazon, although I should). 

Well it turns out that Amazon works with 1,000s of smaller companies.  And although I’m 100 percent satisfied, I have never written a review.  I received a message yesterday that just shocked me.  Here it is:

As a small but passionate American business, we lack the big marketing budgets of larger corporations, and rely on word-of-mouth more than anything. If it is not too much to ask, please help us by writing a short review on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, less than 1% of satisfied customers write a review, but 99% of unsatisfied customers do. Your review therefore would be invaluable to us and helps strengthen the Amazon marketplace for all. 

I couldn’t believe it.  The numbers are staggering.  The unsatisfied are basically a hundred times more vocal than the satisfied.  We hear complaints, criticisms, and negativity a hundred times more than the good stuff. 

It made me think of our spiritual walks with God.  Isn’t the same thing usually true in our personal lives.  We notice and see the bad, the scary, the unfair, the unjust and the darkness.  But the good is sometimes harder to focus on.  Maybe that is why God is constantly telling us, “Don’t be afraid.”  Because our tendency is to focus on the fearful.  The problem.  The challenge.  The difficulty.  Basically, our fears are a hundred times more vocal than our faith. 

Matthew 14:22-33 tells the story of Jesus walking on water.  The disciples, who are on the boat, think it’s a ghost and are afraid.  Jesus responds with some of his favorite words, “Don’t be afraid.”  Peter wants proof.  He tells Jesus, “If it is really you, tell me to come out and walk on the water.”  So Peter begins his walk towards Jesus on the water.  He was walking towards Jesus, but instead of gazing at Him, he lets his focus turn towards the waves.  He allows fear to take a hold of him and he begins to sink.  Jesus, intervenes and saves him.  With love in his eyes he says “Oh, you of little faith.  Why did you doubt me?”  Jesus takes Peter and leads him to the same place he is trying to lead us to.  A place of fearlessness.  A place of trust.  A place of overwhelming faith.  Jesus wants to grow our faith .  He wants our faith to overwhelm fear. 

So that in midst of our problems, in the midst of the storm, in the midst of the waves and chaos, our faith remains steadfast.  Secure and confident in God. 

That’s why we follow Jesus.  And as a church, we want the same for your faith.  There is a song that speaks of this type of faith.  I have used it as a prayer – “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.  Let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me.  Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander.  And my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my savior.”

Would you take some time to listen to song? Oceans by Hillsongs United - 

Would you memorize Romans 8:28?

 "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good 

of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."