Dear people of God do pray for Monica today. Our Father will hear us if we will pray. Let us once again join together in faith in prayer for another one of His children and so fulfill the Lord's will by loving each other even as He loves us. " Lord hear us as we pray for Monica. Answer us. Touch her and heal her and draw her ever nearer to yourself. We pray in your precious name. In the name of Jesus we pray!"

love and blessing to all in that very name of Jesus.

Rudy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From:
"Dora Eason"
To:
"Rodolfo Gutierrez" ,

"Quinton Goodwin"
Subject:
Fw: Update re Monica
Date:
Thu, 24 May 2007 23:42:41 -0500


Rudy, please put this young lady in your prayers and prayer group. Quinton is our nephew from Virginia and had forwarded this to us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dora Easonhttp://us.f560.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=easons@sbcglobal.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Goodwin Quinton WP US

Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 2:19 PM
Subject: FW: Update re Monica


Update re Monica. Let's keep her in our Prayers:

We have just found out that Monica has a Parvo virus, which is rare in adults but not in children. However, when adults get such an acute form, as Monica has, it takes months to get over it. She is still in severe pain and all of her joints are swollen. The doctos are saying that this could go on for months.Please, continue to pray for her. Even though she is on an antibiotic, there is no known antibiotic that will touch this since it is a virus. They are talking about keeping her on a low dose of an antibiotic as a prevention because she is so run down. She is also on a lot of Vicodin because she is in severe, severe pain. She has had to take a leave of absence from school with no idea when she will be able to return. She has a long hard road to walk. Thank you for praying for and caring about our daughter.Faye

More on Being Saved and Baptism

" He who believes and is baptized shall be saved " Mark 16:16

" Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death." Roman 6:3

Let me start out by saying straight off that He who believes IN JESUS and is baptized in water which typifies and signifies the death and resurrection union of the believer with Jesus shall be saved.

Is it water alone that saves us? Nonsense. It is the spiritual reality behind it. Is it Jesus alone that saves us? Absolutely. For both faith in Jesus and baptism belong to the same. It is my experience of Jesus. My confession and testimony through baptism is but putting feet to my faith. I am saying to the world and the universe through my baptism that I am joined with Christ. I am even testifying of some powerful things through faith.

I am testifying through baptism that I have entered into the death of my Lord so that as He died so I died too in Him. There is a passing away of the old Adam for in Adam we all sinned for we were all in Adam. As the same was true of Adam so the same is true of Christ for we are in Christ if we believe and if we believe in Christ then when Christ died we were in Him and died in Him so the old Adam passed away. When Christ arose we also arose in Jesus as a new creation to the glory of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we are baptized we enter into the water to signify our death and union with Christ's death and when we are lifted from those waters we are lifted a new creation in Christ Jesus. We died to that old creation life and all associated with it and something also associated with it was my self-centeredness for in Adam man and woman became so independent of God and self loving and not caring for their brothers and sisters but in Christ we are suddenly made One Body and members one of another so when we are raised we are raised now as members into the Body of Christ. Immediately we are brought into body life with others like us and so we enter into fellowship with other believers by the Holy Spirit.

A great thing happened in baptism. A life-changing , life-altering thing happened. An old creation passed away and suddenly a new day dawned and a new creation was ushered in the very person of Jesus and we were ushered in IN HIM. If we could just grasp that through faith and realize what possession we already possess and walk in that oh the glory there would be to the Father and the testimony in life there would be through the church today but as I have said before ...I believe a certain blindness has entered in and the Holy Spirit has to do a work to give us new eyes again.

Another matter concerning baptism which I will not shy away from is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. All of these are gathered up in this word baptism and we as the children of God have been so robbed of our promised possession that I cannot remain silent on this matter. I will speak more on it next time.

My desire is to bring all this down to the present to where we live. How does this effect where you live? What does this have to do with changing diapers if you have children? What does this have to do with putting gas in your Suburban if you own a gas guzzler? What about my front yard and the trees trimmings that I need to gather up on Saturday? oh yeah.. I didn't mention those extra calories I'm trying to peel away at the gym on my free hours seeing I have such a few? What does this do with anything I refer to as life?

This is my greatest fear dear people of God. We here in the West especially the United States are caught up with these matters and as real as they are I must be honest with you and tell you they are really not life at all. There was a time when we as a people weren't so caught up with these things. We weren't so busy a people. Our economy and way of life has made us so busy we have ruled God out. Jesus is not even allowed to be uttered in the work place. You can't say the name of the Lord at work or you may be cited for some sort of violation. Now everyone else can talk about their life but if you talk about your life in God your out of line. The basic family unit which encouraged faith in God has been so eroded there is little talk about trying to get together with other believers for bible study during the week. You make mention of it and it seems like a dark cloud descended on the whole household. The Individual is so inundated with tasks that the kingdom of God may be the last thing that enters his or hers mind. We must be honest with ourselves if we want to really let Jesus meet us right where we are.
It was the same when Jesus came in the flesh. People are people and we need things and our loving Lord so knows and what does He most graciously say..and oh that we today would hear His voice
" Don't be concerned about what you shall eat or drink, or about what you shall wear... don't you know that all the nations SEEK after these things... but not so with you.. look at the sparrows in the air.. look at the lilys in the fields.. they nether toil nor do they spin.. not a sparrow falls to the ground without my Father knowing and not Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like these... but you..seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt 6:25-34

There is the need for us first as individuals to really enter into our promised possession in Christ and to walk in it by faith in a very revolutionary way. To truly live by faith this life through union with Him through that daily walk, minute by minute, hour by hour testifying to the world that our Christ died and is risen.

Then there is a need to find others of like faith that will encourage and walk with us together as members of that same body.

To raise our children in the light of that truth and anything that we face practically to raise it up to that reality of Jesus and to let the kingdom of God to come to bear on our lives no matter where it may settle.

That we may read His word and come to know His will more and more till the day dawns and He comes back again as He said He would but till that day He is establishing His kingdom in you and me and let us not shrink back on the shores of that river but let us all dive in calling out His name knowing He will hear us and answer.

Prayer Tent For Jane

Dear Family and Love Ones,
Here's an email I recieved from my cousin Jennifer this morning. please read it and I have a few words afterwards.

From:
"Jennifer Garcia" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
To:
"'Rodolfo Gutierrez'"
Subject:
FW: Update on Jane
Date:
Tue, 15 May 2007 08:06:13 -0600 (MDT)

Rudy, my Aunt Jane will begin her chemo treatments soon. Please keep her in your prayers. --Jenna

-----Original Message----------Original Message-----

From: RichJaneK@aol.comSent: Mon, 14 May 2007 10:36 PM
Subject: Update on Jane
Hi,
We saw the surgeon this morning and Jane got the drain tubes and 1/2 of the staples removed from her incision, will get the rest pulled next week. He said she is doing good, but he'll continue to keep an eye on her for a little while.
This afternoon we met with the Oncologist, his recommendation is for 2 - 12 week chemo treatments since she has a different type of cancer in each breast and they don't like to mix the chemicals. So we will begin in 6-8 weeks and have 24 total weeks of treatment. He always suggests getting a second opinion and we are setting up an appointment in Seattle, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. He said that he didn't feel we'd need radiation.
Rich
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear People of God do pray for Jane as if she were your own.
Take her into your own heart and bring her before the Lord in prayer.
I continue to be taken with the fact of the many multitudes that came to the Lord who were ill and the compassion of our Jesus to heal.
One of the very hallmarks of our faith in redemption is summed up in the words of Isaiah which Matthew also qouted when speaking of our Christ and the apostle Matthew quoted it in the context of the healing miracles that were taking place by the hand of our Jesus,
" ..When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: " He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases." (Matt 8: 16,17)
The very next verse from Isaiah that Matthew is qouting is Isaiah 53:5 which reveals our Lord dying for our iniquities.
It is a glorious fact that our Lord cares for both the body and soul of every man and woman and has made provision in His own body for each of us. Praise His name.

He has made provision for Jane and thats why we can come to Him knowing that His mind is this way and we can pray with all faith and entrust ourselves to God who is able to do all things exceedingly and abundantly all that we can ask or think.

It's good to know the specifics about a thing so that it will help us to pray so when you read this again read what Rich had to say and then just ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words to pray.
God bless you all for interceeding on Jane's behalf!
love to all,
Rudy

Baptized Into Christ

" Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death." Roman 6:3

Is there any room for baptism in this century of hip hop, 401k plans, cruise ship vacations and the like. I would say as long as men and women have to deal with their identity in life, baptism will be right at the heart of it all.

Baptism has been a subject that eludes many and some wonder why it is even necessary. Even Jesus who was the very Son of God was baptized by John the Baptist and John found it difficult to do so but Jesus insisted it must be done and when He was baptized by John immediately the Holy Spirit like a dove descended upon Jesus and rested and the heavens opened and a voice said, " This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.".

If we see Jesus go into those waters for whatever reasons we would want to know why.

I'm going to enter into them deeply then later on come back out on the shallows.

First lets consider Jesus baptism. Don't be afraid to enter with Him.
From the above experience of our Lord's Baptism we can garner several truths.

First there is a spiritual reality: Jesus is the Son of God.

Second, there is a practical outworking: Baptism.

and finally Third: The affirmation and confirmation from heaven of that divine truth: the Holy Spirit descending, and a voice speaking of the Father's good pleasure.

The spiritual reality is there; Jesus could be no less the Son of God than He already was. Even though some say He needed to be baptized in order to be anointed for ministry - I take some exception to that for how more anointed does one have to be when your God. I think it goes a bit deeper than that and I believe Jesus and John knew it was not about anything like that and all Jesus told John was that it was "for righteousness sake." Look at the verses if you have to. ( Matt 3:14-15 ). Jesus just knew He had to do something on this earth that testified to something that was already true in heaven.

It was ALREADY true concerning Jesus that He was the anointed one of God and that death worked in Him 24/7 so that when John baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descended like a dove AND RESTED upon our most precious Lord. There was a resounding display right there in front of the whole universe for we find all the trinity coming together and the Father breaking in at the moment to testify vocally himself! THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL-PLEASED. Matt 3: 1-17

It is important to mentioned this first thing for all of us who are baptized afterwards are baptized into Christ and this is a picture of that fullness though only He is solely THE BELOVED SON and no one can ever take that rightful place. John said I am not fit to remove his sandals and right after he said that John also said , " He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Matt 3: 11. John saw that the baptism of repentance he was baptizing the Israelites was just a shadow to a greater a fuller baptism of Christ.

Sadly Baptism is not fully understood and appreciated otherwise we would be dripping with water gladly wet in that testimony of the death and resurrection of our Jesus. It has so much power and significance to the believers life if he/she would grasp it by faith.

For instance there's this whole terrible ' skeleton in the closet ' -we call 'sin' -that seems to have its free course in this day and age. I don't say this for judgement sake but in order to help us deal with this matter of the flesh. I'm seeing all these self-help classes popping up that are suppose to deal with these matters and issues but I'm afraid it's all pruning away at the branches of a tree and they really don't do anything to remove the source of the problem and nothing will deal with the issue better than to get at its very root.

When Paul was writing to the Romans about baptism it was all in relation to sin. Read Romans chapter 6:1,2 and 3and you will see that the topic I started is totally in relation or in context to the issue of sin in the life of an individual. He basically was saying... how can you keep on sinning if you've been baptized! Or.. How can you be alive to something that your dead to!

Now its not like something magical happened when you were baptized but I will say this; Something radical happened to you when you first believed in Jesus; something life altering,something life changing, something so revolutionary that it extracted something in your very DNA makeup and caused you to become someone altogether different...you became a new creation. Baptism is the testimony of that! even as baptism was the testimony that Jesus was all that He was. When you believed in Jesus -there was a spiritual baptism so to speak ,you were baptized into Christ but there must be testimony of that here on the earth as well for it is fitting for righteousness sake.

The Father desires testimony of His will accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.

What is going on here!? Why this whole matter of testimony?

That is a subject all by itself but suffice it to say there are rulers and authorities in the heavenly places and there is this whole matter of giving glory and manifesting that in our own vessels for it is the reason we were created in the first place. There is so much more but I can't get into that otherwise I will deviate. Right now the matter before us is being baptized into Christ and the power over sin.

When you see this whole matter of union with Christ you begin to see your standing in the place of power in life over sin. This is not a knowledge issue either. It is a matter of revelation.

A day will come in your walk as a believer when everything will seem so shallow and you will desire a deeper walk with Him or something will present itself as an obstacle to your life in Christ and you will need a deeper knowing of Him to go on. That day you will bow down before Him and make a cry for Him to be your help and in that day He will open your eyes to see these things.

He will show you that He has so met you 'IN HIMSELF'.

It will not be sufficient to have your life as you once did you will know deep down inside that you will need this deeper relationship with your Lord and He will lead you into His very self by the leading of the Holy Spirit. It will not be anything magical but something quite life changing for the eyes of your understanding will be opened to see Jesus in ways you had not seen Him before and life will take on deeper meaning and significance. You will begin to walk as a new creation on a new path with different eyes and a much healthier disposition.

I will write one more thing down and stop and will take it up some other time for this is a great topic. When we enter the waters of baptism we are essentially entering into the death of Christ so that as He died so we too died in Him and as we are being raised out of those very waters we are being raised into the likeness of that very resurrection of our Christ. This is a great mystery but may the Holy Spirit reveal it to those who seek Him.. Romans 6:4-11

I will write more later

Save me Lord? From what?

" He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.." Mark 16:16

Saved from what?
The IRS? The dentist? my Boss? a bad T.V. schedule? Long work hours? sickness? high mortgage payment? Debt?
what about self-importance, abasement, indulgence, sexual sin ( yeah I said the dirty word )

Maybe there's somethings I don't want to be saved from.
Maybe I'm a selfish person, full of greed, materialistic and as sinful as can be and I want the liberty to be and live any way I full well want!

I think that for the most part this is the context most people think and live in.
I call this 'kindergarten mentality' and somehow this has become the shallow existence most of us especially here in the United States find ourselves in. There has been a lowering of character and personal maturity that has set us back to at least a 100 years and that for people living in the United States for in the late 1800's we had not even made that moral decline that has now stunted our growth to that of school children.
Not to say we are not concerned with all these things and that they are not issues in our life but it is quite surprising to find that there is not a greater depth in our citizens and people. We are not concerned with higher and more noble thoughts, dreams and aspirations. What has entered our diet that has produced such a temperance and complacency. In a word I call it 'Blindness '.
Blindness- if a person cannot see then nothing is there.
I have to interject at this moment for another great illness that might raise its head even now at the reading of this is 'the inability to receive any form of correction or criticism ' The school teacher who was merely installed by the school system was able to correct and bring in any form of criticism to her class and the students profit ted from it but far be it if we should say ANYTHING negative about ourselves and our present state of affairs for there will be whiners and complainers stomping out like someone set the school on fire.
Maybe something else effected our diet and that was the lack of chefs who were willing to prepare a well cooked meal who were not afraid to say things the way they were for fear of upsetting the masses.
Whatever happened .. a blindness settled in and a person couldn't even see what it was they needed to be saved from and baptized INTO.

Who will save us from this blindness? Who will heal a blind nation and generation? Who is compassionate enough and loving enough to do so?

Jesus, the Son of the Living God.

" For on that day the deaf shall hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see." Isa. 29:18

Its this gloom and darkness that many find themselves in and they don't even know its gloom. We have a new word for it - "Depression"

A new Depression has set in that is greater than the 'Great Depression' and that is the 'Dark Depression' that has set in across the whole world but we are feeling it here even among many so called churches.
Darkness is just being devoid of that light that illuminates all that is and is not. What I find so surprising is that many profess to be believers but walk in darkness so it only tells me a blindness has set in or I wonder if they had ever seen at all this Jesus who so illuminates all things.
Once having seen Him you know all things and all things are judged and you need no one to teach you. You know what is godly , right and good before His eyes and you walk in the light of His glorious face and by the power of the Holy Spirit. You rejoice to read the teachings of Jesus in the scriptures and fellowship with other believers and you are being changed from glory to glory into the likeness of Jesus. (2 Corinthian's 3:18)
If you are living short of that then a blindness has set in or there needs to be a full seeing of Jesus. The apostle Paul says that if there is not a continued knowing of Him then what is there to living.. " That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death..
.. and I press on that I may know Him and to find a righteousness which is through faith through Him.. ' the letter to the Philippians.

It's not some cloud that we want to descend from heaven to reveal to us Jesus but Jesus did tell Peter when after Peter walked awhile with Jesus responded to a question and answered.." Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." that Jesus responded and said flesh and blood didn't revealed this to you but my father in Heaven.

In other words, you didn't get that from just somebody telling you. It wasn't from some T.V. evangelist or something you learned from cathecism, this isn't something your mama or papa told you... you aint just whistling dixie! Something has broken in upon you from heaven! Something revolutionary! Something extraterrestrial .. not of this earth so to speak... something from heaven has broken in and the communication has come to you directly from the Creator of the terra firma your standing on. This is the kind of seeing that opens the eyes of the blind.

The Father of Heaven through the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to any man or woman. How that occurs is by the preaching of the gospels and that is nothing less than the continued teaching of Jesus. We are a privileged nation in that we can read the bible without persecution but that can change if this blindness continues but seeing we have this bible and we have meetings where it is being taught we pray that there are brethren who teach Jesus and not some other doctrine and we pray that He is being revealed or I pray that individuals will take it upon themselves to look for their Lord through the reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Isaiah said, " for in that day the deaf will hear the words of a book"... oh that we would hear and our ears would be opened. The Holy Spirit is well able to reveal the Son. In this continued looking on His face a light will break upon us and we will see all things and even those things we need to be saved from but we will have the power to be saved from them as well and that leads to baptism and that will be my next topic Lord willing.

"Father, Glorify yourself in your Son Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray."