Posts Tagged ‘Easter’

Our Easter Hope in the Midst of COVID-19
Thankful for the Cross of Christ

Dawn and I hope you had a wonderful Easter! I mean, we realize that it was an unusual Easter, since we are all confined to our homes. Yet, it’s wonderful to think about Christians all around the world celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Jesus death and resurrection give us a future and a hope.

As Believers we have reason to be hopeful. Last Wednesday, April 8 was the beginning of the Passover, and it was also Holy Week. God is at work during this time, and although the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy He who is in us is greater. Satan seeks to do us harm through the coronavirus and what’s going on around the world, but I believe God will use it for good.

We are looking to Lord to breakthrough and bring revival!

God is on the Move!

Today I made a short 5 minute video, and in it I share some of our experiences over the last month. I think you will find it encouraging.

Dawn & I give thanks for God’s Great work
Pastor René & Yarlis Peñate
Dave with Pastor René

As I mention in the video I just recently returned from Cuba where I was involved in training 102 church planters in four different cities. Pastor René Peñate is one of the church planters who was involved in the training.

This morning Pastor Rene and his wife, Yarelis sent me a video of Yarelis and their children singing the song Forever (Por Siempre), which was co-written by Kari Jobe. This is a powerful song with a great Easter message. We actually sang this song at our daughter, Hannah’s funeral. Kari Jobe was one of Hannah’s favorite artists so the song and the artist have a special significance for our family.

Por Siempre sung by Yarelis Peñate and family
Forever (English version) performed by Kari Jobe
Forever by Kari Jobe with Lyrics

We do sing Hallelujah, because the Lamb has overcome. Forever He is glorified, forever His is lifted high, He is Alive!

Thanks for doing us on this journey of faith!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Celebrate the New Church

Pastor Daniel praying for Ivan & Rocio during the dedication service

Pastor Daniel praying for Ivan & Rocio during the dedication service

On Palm Sunday Dawn and I celebrated the inaugural service with Lo Mejor del Trigo in Ribera de Bosque. Pastor Ivan and Rocio were radiant.

The church was packed with about 100 people. Pastor Daniel Nuñez prayed for and gave a charge to Ivan and Rocio. They were moved to tears as we gathered around them and prayed.

Privileged to be Part of God’s Expanding Kingdom

A full house to celebrate the new church

A full house to celebrate the new church

Dawn and I felt privileged to celebrate with them, and take part in the service. Such precious people, who love Jesus.

It was extra special that all three pastors from the churches that Harbor has helped start were at the dedication service. Pastor Leo and pastor Rodrigo also shared their gratitude for the work that we’ve done with them in helping them to get started!

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

Dave sharing some words of encouragement with Ivan and Rocio during the inaugural service

Dave sharing some words of encouragement with Ivan and Rocio during the inaugural service

It’s thrilling that this last Sunday, Easter Sunday they could worship in their new church. The gospel is going forth in the community of Ribera de Bosque. This is something that Ivan and Rocio have dreamed of for a long time.

I’m so grateful for our relationship with Ivan, Rocio and the rest of our friends with Lo Mejor del Trigo. They are a gift from our Savior.

Pray that the church will grow and that the Lord will give Ivan wisdom as he leads the people.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLIfeOnTheBorder.org

 

He is Risen!

Jon, Hannah, David Jr., Dawn and Dave

Jon, Hannah, David Jr., Dawn and Dave

We celebrated a wonderful Easter with our friends from Harbor Mid-City.

Easter Sunday is such an exciting day. I love the excitement that surrounds the resurrection. All the energy that the visitors bring. You can feel and hear the joy as we sing.

Christ is Victorious!

Many friends from Harbor Mid-City on Easter Sunday

Many friends from Harbor Mid-City on Easter Sunday

I think I’m not the only one that loves Easter. I can hear it in the voice of those directing the worship. Even during the announcements there is more energy.

It’s an uplifting day, because of all that Easter Sunday represents in the resurrection of Christ. Christ paid it all on the cross. He defeated sin, death and Satan through the cross and his resurrection. Hallelujah what a savior!

The Spring weather also adds to my enjoyment of this special day.

After the service today, we all enjoyed a delicious meal catered by Phil’s BBQ. It was a truly special and blessed day. O Lord, give us more times of worship like we experience on Easter!

Danny Kim, who directs worship and communications at Harbor Mid-City put together an uplifting video about the transformation that Christ brings. It’s part of the Easter story.

What’s Your Story?

Jesus’ Exhortation to Share His Story

Jesus spoke to his disciples after his resurrection and said to them,

Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

—Luke 24:46-47

I hope you enjoyed your Easter. We are the Easter people.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

 

 

We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song —Pope John Paul II

Harbor Mid-City Easter Sunday! Worship

Harbor Mid-City Easter Sunday!

The message of Easter is one of hope. Light breaks through the darkness. We live in a world that seems hopeless and in despair. The resurrection is the game changer. That’s why hallelujah is our song!

When God enters in it is reminder that there is hope. When the gospel truly does break forth it gives us reason to rejoice. Often we are not singing hallelujah, because our spiritual eyes and ears are not open to what the Lord is doing all around us. Maybe we’ve forgotten what our savior did for us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

One of the ways we learn of how God is working in a community is listening to the testimony of his people. On Easter Sunday, Danny Kim put together a marvelous video that tells the story of three changed lives.

Moses and Oliva both came to know the resurrected savior in a very personal way this last year. God worked in Timonthy’s heart and gave him the strength to forgive someone who had abused him years ago.

It brought tears to my eyes to observe how the Lord had redeemed the lives of these friends. I know that the Lord used the testimonies of these transformed lives to touch the hearts of many who were there to worship the risen savior.

Resurrection: Finding New Life in Jesus Christ!

Give thanks with us for the Lord’s marvelous work, and for these transformed lives!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

Harbor Mid-City Easter Sunday! Worship

Harbor Mid-City Easter Sunday!

I was so encouraged by all the Lord did today!

The Power of the Spirit of the Lord

Today we celebrated our first Easter Sunday here on the border at Harbor Mid-City. The Lord’s Spirit was moving in a powerful way during the service. I love the hope that the resurrection brings.

It was such a good day. We celebrated changed lives, and people who have been set free through the resurrection power of Christ. I was moved to tears as I saw a good friend of Dawn and mine come up for prayer, and ask God to bring healing to his life.

The worship, the celebration was so good, and so joyful. Later I thought, I love Easter. When I reflect back on past Easter’s I believe Easter is the best day of the year. I wish everyday could be Easter. It doesn’t hurt that the weather was beautiful, and the sun shone brightly.

Bring Good News to the Poor…

When Dawn and I first felt called to move to the border, the Lord impressed on our heart the message from Isaiah 61:1-4 (ESV, emphasis mine).

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion– to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.”

The power of the resurrection - the flowered Cross

The power of the resurrection – the flowered Cross

The Powerful Message of Easter: Restoration of Many Generations

All these wonderful acts of healing and restoration are the types of things we are seeing and experiencing in our ministry with Harbor on the border. It just fills me up, and I’d love to feel this way everyday! I continue to believe a huge reason we are seeing such an outpouring of God’s Spirit and his redeeming work is because so many are praying.

We are thrilled to witness God working in such a marvelous way. The Lord’s is bringing healing and hope, and somehow we are right there where’s it’s taking place.

O Lord, bring home the story, the message and the celebration of Easter to me, my family and friends each day. Make the truth of your death and your victory over death more real. O that we will fall on our face and worship you, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Amen!

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeOnTheBorder.org

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

We hope you have a wonderful Easter celebration with your friends and family!

Today is a bright day! A day that we celebrate our hope, in an otherwise hopeless world.

On the cross and through Christ’s resurrection He defeated sin, death, and Satan. Christ rose victoriously on our behalf. He crushed the serpent’s head. After the darkness, sadness and gloom that fell on Friday (I wrote about this in my last post), there is the brightness of Easter Sunday. Christ is the light of the world.

The Lord grants us some wonderful promises, because of His death and resurrection. Jesus says in John 16:33,

“I have said those things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Take heart, dear Christian, even though your daily trials may seem too much to bear. Our victorious Savior comforts us with these words. He has overcome the world!

Our hope is in Christ. Paul gives those that are in Christ some more powerful promises. These words should encourage us, and give us great hope. 

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

— Colossians 2:13-15

We were dead, but now we are alive in Christ. Our debt has been paid in full. There’s nothing that we can add to what Christ has already done for us. He defeated death, sin, and Satan on the cross and in his resurrection. He rose victoriously. Hallelujah!!!

I love the way Hwa Yung describes what Christ has accomplished for us as Christus Victor – Christ Victorious.

“Through the Cross all forces hostile to humanity, whether sin and death, the Devil and his hosts, the demonic structures in the world and occult forces, all forms of oppressions and existential alienation, and the like are overcome and defeated. Christians are thereby set free and share in Christ’s triumph over them.”

— Hwa Yung, Deliver us from Evil, p. 17

Let us all rejoice and sing the Hallelujah Chorus together as we give thanks for the blessed hope that is found on Easter!

1 Corinthians 15 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, because it speaks of the resurrection, and what Christ has done for us. Paul makes it clear that the validity of our faith hinges on the resurrection. If the resurrection isn’t true then nothing else matters. Yet we have an assurance through Christ that God is making all things new. Since we have this blessed hope in what Christ secured for us through His death and resurrection Paul ends the chapter with these powerful and comforting words.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory?” “O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

—1 Corinthians 15:54b-58

Happy Easter from the Diaso family

We give thanks for you, for our family, for the great partners the Lord has given us as we serve! Our friends at Harbor like to say, the gospel changes everything. We say a resounding yes, Amen! Praise God!

Thank you for standing with us as we seek to proclaim the resurrection on the border where there is much brokenness.

In His Grip, Dave

DiasoLifeontheBorder.org