"Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time. One of the extraordinary transferences that happen in your spiritual life is not that your character flaws go away, but they start to work for you. A negative becomes a positive: you've a big mouth: you end up a singer. You're insecure; you end up a performer who needs applause. I have heard of people having life changing, miraculous turn-arounds, people set free from addiction after a single prayer, relationships saved where both parties, 'let go, and let God." But it was not like that for me. For all that 'I was lost, I am found', it is probably more accurate to say, 'I was really lost, I'm a little less so at the moment.' And then a little less and a little less again.. That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting of a computer at regular intervals, reading the small print of the service manual. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years though, and it is not over yet." --Bono (U2 by U2)
(Pastor Alejandro & Mayra Lopes in a conference in Costa Rica) Yesterday I visited a Hispanic church here in Amsterdam which was celebrating the opening of its brand new temple. Iglesia El Encuentro con Dios was founded 18 years ago by Mayra Lopez, the wife of Alejandro Lopez who is now the senior pastor. Their new church building has cost them more than 2 million euros (3 million dollars). It sits in the middle of a commercial/factory zone, so you don't expect to find a building packed with 400 Latin Americans worshipping God in their native language. It is an unbelievable story. Pastor Alejandro has planted churches in the other major cities of Holland as well as in New York and the Domican Republic (his native land). What I did not expect is that yesterday he called me and two other missionary families to give us awards. One award was to an elderly American missionary who led his wife to Christ 18 years ago. I mentioned to her that she was the spiritual grandmother of so m...
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