Last night, around 5:20, pastor Josue called me to let me know that “Romancito”, a 15 year old boy and son of active new members of our church, had died of Leukemia. We went to his funeral service at 6 pm and 8 pm. There are a lot of things to comment on about this.

First of all, the number of young people that were at the services was amazing. I couldn’t help but think that this young man, through his death, was sharing the gospel with more people who needed to hear it than he had during his lifetime. I also couldn’t help but thinking that these young people were so desperate for Jesus last night. No event that we would have programmed could have brought the gospel to all of them, but the life of their friend did just that.

Secondly, Patti, his sister, is only 14 years old. How difficult it must be for her to go through this. She didn’t want to leave the casket. She stood up there with her brother the whole time during the 6 o’clock service. Please pray for her during this time.

Thirdly, Roman and Patti have recently accepted Christ and been baptized. God’s working in their lives allowed the funeral to be in a church where the Truth is preached, allowing many people to hear the gospel last night and in the days to come. We didn’t realize this was taking place in the “Master Plan” of God a while ago, but now I can see His fingerprints all over it. Roman was the one singing praises the most to God last night, with his trademark wide smile. What a testimony.

Lastly, it shows me that we as Christians are not guaranteed a posh lifestyle or a life free of suffering. I have been thinking about that a lot lately. God doen’t guarantee us that following Him will be easy. He does guarantee to be with us through our trials.

Please pray for Roman, his wife Patricia, and their daughter Patti during this time. Also pray for their many friends and relatives who will no doubt, in the next few weeks, be pondering their eternal destination and beliefs about Jesus.

“And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him’.”

We had an awesome time today worshipping the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, on the Dunedin Causeway. We’ve put up some pics from the day in this gallery. I had the chance to give my testimony about really knowing God. “Interest in theology, and knowledge about God, and the capacity to think clearly and talk well on Christian themes, is not at all the same thing as knowing him. We may know as much about God as Calvin knew…and yet all the time, we may hardly know God at all. (J.I. Packer) It is more important to know God than to know things about Him. Take some time to get to know God this week. It will change your life.

This is the day we set aside to remember the suffering of Jesus for our sins. I have spent the morning studying the gospels and reflecting on just what Jesus went through because of His love for the world. He was willing to undergoe extreme pain for the sins of the world. Did you know that we get the word “excruciating” from the Latin word meaning, “Out of the cross?” There is an article published in 1986 by the Journal of the American Medical Association called On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ that details the medical aspects that Jesus endured for us. I’ve read it before, but it has special meaning today. Take some time to remember the cross of Jesus.