Christ covers it all.

Happy Resurrection or Easter! The past couple of months Atonement has been a theme that has been circulating the internet. The Bible doesn't define atonement plainly, it alludes to it and over the past 2000 years people have been studying and developing what many us now take for granted. Much like the Trinity, we know the basic idea, and don't have rediscover it in the Bible. It is fully supported by the Bible, but we take for granted what many have argued about for years.


 Many times today when theologians talk about topics like atonement, they don't offer anything new as much as find out what truth has already been said and perhaps forgotten. After reading and hearing some of these folks this past spring I heard something that glued together ideas that float in my head. 
 The view that Christ has died for us is simple on the surface, but the details... One detail is interesting. That Christ's death was abundant. In Adam all men were affected by one sin. Everything felt the curse. Since then, sin has multiplied and continues. In Christ, though, the atonement is abundant. By one man all that sin is covered.


Romans 5:17, "For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."


It has to be so abundant as to swallow up even your future. It is that one act by one man that rushes over the past, present and future of us all.

 This is an aspect of Christ that is important to be aware of. It helps make sense of the miracle at Cana. Christ not only covered what was necessary, but went beyond that with the quality and quantity. Not only did he forgive a man his sins, but He healed him also. He fed the crowds, but he also had left overs. He gave his disciples fish, and enough to about sink the boat.  He works and delivers extra beyond the need.

 One problem of our human condition is fear of scarcity, it is what drives the Capitalists market. Economics 101 is supply and demand. If you can increase demand your profit goes up. Watch how high the prices go up when something seems to run out. (Twinkies) What is notable about the fear is  we are non-critical with ourselves. We pay the extra money to guarantee we get the iphone because we need it. Even in small things like a coffee, we are not critical of ourselves in how generous we are to ourselves. This is the difference between us and Christ. His abundance went out to others.

"You will again have compassion on us;

    you will tread our sins underfoot

    and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19

Christ is Abundant in His work. It doesn't barely reach the edges of humanity with just enough to cover the debt, He washes over it and drowns it. Part of the Christian walk of maturity is the imitation of this behavior. Because we have received this abundance, the Christian walk should include the abundance of giving. Practice the same practice we already know for ourselves, but turn it outward to others. Give the same quality of service to our neighbors that we bestow on ourselves. It will help us evaluate how we use our resources, perhaps we are to extravagant towards our own. Perhaps we will be more liberal with blessing others.

This Easter season we celebrate the sacrifice of God generously giving His only Son, Christ abundantly living with us, and His sacrifice being more than sufficient. Christ "who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us," which is the Holy Spirit.

 Walk in the abundance of grace by imitating that action toward others, and not fearing scarcity for ourselves.

Concierto para el Rey de reyes

This Easter (Semana Santa) season Nate had an idea that we could do a concert for all villages on Tierra Bomba to enjoy. Now we have never put on a concert, but loved the idea that we would have a night to worship the Lord. Many people in Bocachica celebrate this holiday by drinking at the bars. Any holiday on the calendar that is red (federal holiday), they drink. They don't know the meaning behind the holidays which are observed. This year we wanted to have a night for the whole family, a clear way to present the gospel, and a way to provide an alternative to the bars (cantinas).

Yeklin Pao de Avila Seca presenting the Gospel to all! 

 It was a success! There were at about 1200 people there, a great percentage weren't christian either. There was great music, and a clear message of the gospel given. The people were impressed and loved the event. They already want to do it again. Like our name "Juntos", many came together to make it happen.

Mitchel Martinez of Tierra Bomba

We found out there is a lot of planning that goes into hosting a concert. Finding bands to attend, food vendors to sell, security, and medical team to help and a lot of time going into getting the word out. The Lord blessed us with wonderful help, and sponsors to help make this night a success.
We had Snoot from Medellin bring a team of 30 people. Margarita Osario Cano works with Gospel Park doing Christian concerts, and she helped us by guiding us and showing the vision of what they have done. Her fiance, and brother also helped out with logistics. Risen a band that came as missionaries last year came again to preform in the concert as well as bringing a friend from another band to preform. We are grateful for the partnership with Snoot.

Margarita Osorio Cano of Gospel Park helping us with our logistics team.

Logistics team

Raphaela, the girl from Germany, put in a lot of time with design and promotion of the concert. We are thankful for the work she has done here with us. She is a great team player, and even took the leadership for bringing in a band from Cartagena and hosting them at our house for the concert.

Raphaela always with a smile!

Luis and Adriana's new house is broken in for service. The bands were held in waiting in their patio, they gave hospitality to the Snoot team that night for meeting up. Adriana made popcorn and drinks to sell at the concert. The new house turned into the pivot point for all things needed for the concert. It is great that the Lord is already using this investment for greater things for Him. Juan's bed even became available to sleeping babies that needed a quiet place.

Luis and Adriana's house in the back ground. Singers from Pueblo Fuerte church

The churches in the community came together to provide the instruments and microphones for the concert. They were represented in the performances as well. Volunteers from both churches helped with setup and sound. It helped to create better unity within the Christians on the island.

 There are students in Bocachica that are part of the civil defense in Cartagena, and they provided emergency medical if it was needed. The local guys from the church helped them with security as well. We are thankful for them because the emotion and energy surged during the concert and they helped keep everyone safe while still having a good time.

Civil defense practicing backboarding.

Resting with the security guys after the concert.

I am grateful for our family too. We have a large family, but it is a blessing. We can accomplish much more than we could if it were just two of us. All the small errands, the work of setup, cooking for teams, and a myriad of other tasks that would require a staffed team to preform are handled by our children. The size of our house and the daily needs of living required for a large family are easily available for teams that come as well. We can welcome in a team of 10 and the dynamics don't change to severely because we are already used to handling large amounts of people. The last night we had supper here at the house and there were 50 people around the table enjoying themselves. Without the large family dynamic already in place this would be impossible to do.

Group game after supper in our dining room.

 Our supporters monthly are the reason we can stay and serve here. Thank you to those who support us and those who especially gave to this event. With the support we rented the sound equipment, paid transportation, bought gifts for the concert, fed the workers who helped. We were able to buy the materials for promoting the event, pay workers to help move heavy equipment, and extra miscellaneous  items so that we had everything we needed.

Kids winning prizes from sponsors

It was a group effort for sure, and it is great that we could publicly glorify the Lord.

We hope you all had a great Semana Santa and Resurrection Sunday!