Welcome to the third and final part of our interview with Carlos Contreras (Juárez, Mexico). Read part one here and part two here.

Carlos, what single piece of counsel (or constructive criticism) has most improved your preaching?

The following great quote from George Whitefield’s journal entry of March 26, 1739 has remained with me through the years and reminded me of what really is happening as I preach and serve and what my only reward should be:

At eight I hastened to Weaver’s Hall, in Temple Street, which was procured me, because the Society rooms were too little. I was almost faint before I could get in through the crowd, but God enabled me to speak with freedom, and was with us of a truth. I believe there might be a thousand hearers. Well may the Devil and his servants rage horribly; their kingdom is in danger.

After I had done, I went to a Christian house, where many waited for me. At my return home, my Master paid me my wages: for my soul was filled with an intenseness of love, and I knew what it is not only to have righteousness and peace, but joy in the Holy Ghost. This is my continual food.

What books on preaching, or examples of it, have you found most influential in your own preaching?

I would list the following books: Between Two Worlds by John Stott, The Sacred Anointing by Tony Sargent, An All-Round Ministry by C.H. Spurgeon and George Whitefield’s Journals from Banner of Truth.

Other than Spurgeon’s sermons I would say reading Martyn Lloyd Jones’ has impacted me the most.

But I would say I am most indebted to Jeff Purswell and Mike Bullmore for the privilege of sitting under their teaching on this subject and to you for I have had the joy of hearing you preach probably over a hundred times. Thanks for that, C.J.!

What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your effective use of time?

Focus your efforts on results not activity.

What single bit of counsel has made the most significant difference in your leadership?

Leadership is a gift from God and so we must prove faithful in leading. This thought helps me to not shrink back under significant challenges, to not fall into the temptation to pride, to better identify new leaders and to be careful to lead with love.

Where in ministry are you most regularly tempted to discouragement?

When I become aware that a member of our church has fallen into some significant sin. I am then tempted to wonder if we are doing our jobs correctly or if the church is in some way failing. However, I am only discouraged when I forget the doctrine of sin and the wonderful faithfulness of Christ towards his Treasured Possession.

Do you exercise? If so, what do you do? If not, why not? (Please be specific.)

Yes I exercise regularly. I go to the spinning gym or ride my bike about 7–8 hours a week.

Currently, what sport do you like to play and/or watch?

I enjoy cycling (both mountain biking and road) and am able to take significant rides with my buddies from the church.

I also enjoy watching most sports except hockey (big men chasing and hitting this little puck around), Nascar (cars going really fast many times around a loop?) and golf (which like bowling I don’t consider a sport, sorry!).

What do you do for leisure?

Skiing, gardening (I am so secure in my masculinity I even included this), Dominoes and cooking on the grill.

If you were not in ministry, what occupational path would you have chosen?

For 10 years I was in the industrial construction business; if for any reason I need to retire from full-time ministry, I would love to be able to go back and build homes for people.

Thank you, my friend!

Welcome back to our interview with Carlos Contreras (Juárez, Mexico). Read part one of the interview here.

Carlos, please describe your morning devotions. What time do you wake up in the morning? How much time do you spend reading, meditating, praying, etc.? What are you presently reading?

I usually wake up at around 6:15 a.m. but since I am not a morning person I usually exercise or shower first while listening to a great sermon on one of the podcasts I am subscribed to. Then I spend between 30 to 45 minutes reading my Bible and praying. Every morning I read a Psalm to start my devotions and pray through it. Then I read a section of Scripture which currently would be in the gospels. I finish with a time of intercession.

What book(s) are you currently reading in these three categories: (a) for your soul, (b) for pastoral ministry, or (c) for personal enjoyment?

For my soul I have greatly enjoyed Because He Loves Me by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick (I believe next to your book and Jerry Bridges’ The Gospel for Real Life it’s one of the best resources on living the gospel centered life).

For pastoral ministry I am currently reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller (an excellent help in understanding what people may be thinking as we attempt to reach them) and Jesus Ascended by Gerrit Scott Dawson (I was very interested in some of his thoughts by a couple of quotes that Elyse includes in her book).

I have enjoyed for years reading good contemporary Latin American literature (it also helps me to preserve my Spanish since most of my reading is in English) and I also enjoy classical Russian literature.

Apart from Scripture, what book do you most frequently re-read and why?

Here are my all-time favorites:

Knowing God by J.I. Packer, because it pointed me to the majesty of God by a man who knows God.

The Cross of Christ by Stott, because it first introduced me to the meaning of the cross. This book changed my life; it helped me understand the gospel.

The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal, because it helped stir true passion and desire for God.

Sin and Temptation by John Owen. Amazingly this was one of the most liberating books I have ever read. It truly is an indispensable tool in dealing with sin.

Holiness by Grace by Bryan Chapell. This book helped me a great deal to understand growing in holiness without falling into legalism.

Lost in the Middle by Paul Tripp. I believe this has been the best book I have read on grace and biblical counseling, maybe because I read it when I was in my forties and was facing some significant regrets.

When you finish a book, what system have you developed in order to remember and reference that book in the future?

I always use a yellow highlighter and because of that have been able to remember pretty closely the location of a particular quote.

If you could study under any theologian in church history (excluding those men in Scripture), who would it be and why?

I love to imagine I could be admitted to the T4G Seminary and study under the men that have influenced my life the most: Mahaney, Dever, Piper, MacArthur, Sproul, Mohler and Duncan and hope they could have as guest teachers Packer, Stott, Grudem, Carson, Bridges, Bullmore, and Purswell. What more could I ask?

Join us next time for the third and final part of the interview with Carlos.

Across from the border city of El Paso, Texas, sits the city of Juárez, Mexico. If you are current with the news, you probably know that Juárez has become a violent front line in the war on drugs. Between January 2008 and March 2009, almost 2,000 drug-related murders have taken place in the city as a war rages that involves the drug cartels, local police, and Mexico’s military.

Recently Time Magazine said Juárez “may be the western hemisphere’s most dangerous town” and “certainly the hardest hit by Mexico’s drug-war terror.” * 

Ministering in the city of Juárez is my friend and (extra)ordinary pastor, Carlos Contreras.

Carlos, who is 50 years old, has attended his local church for 30 years, and has served on staff for the last 18 years (11 as senior pastor). He and his wife, Kena, have been married for 26 years and have four children.

Carlos, I appreciate your taking time to answer these questions. First, I want to ask about the escalating violence in Juárez. Describe for us what is happening in your city and how the current situation affects your church and ministry.

I never imagined that we would have to lead our congregation through something like this. The three largest drug cartels in México are warring for control of our city. There are other sites in México with similar battles, but the unique situation of Juárez has made our streets the site of some of the most violent and gruesome incidents in the nation.

In addition to this, over 100 law enforcement officials have lost their lives, many of them because they had become part of a cartel but many others as they carried out their duties. The suspicion of corruption and the threat of violence has produced massive layoffs and resignations of police officers. This weakening of the law enforcement bodies has contributed in the unleashing of a severe crime wave that has exposed regular citizens to armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping. If you add to this the subsequent financial crisis that has made our city No. 1 in the nation in loss of jobs, then you get a pretty nasty scenario.

This crisis of violence and crime has produced a very high level of fear, anxiety and hopelessness in our city and has tempted many in the church to fall into those sins. So by God’s grace we have had to use every opportunity to teach and remind people of the truth of God’s sovereignty and care. And we have seen much growth in learning to trust God like never before.

Since we couldn’t trust our government to protect or deliver us from all of this, we have had to learn to REALLY trust God for our well-being, and it has been wonderful! The church has grown, both in numbers and in maturity. As a church we are very aware and grateful for all the good fruit God has produced in our lives as a result of this crisis and we are joyfully anticipating much more of his grace.

My personal challenge has been to learn to carry the burden of concern for the well-being of our folks and our city. My love for the folks in the church has grown much as I have prayed for them and carried them in my heart all these months. But also, I have seen a new love for the city and nation develop in my heart and the heart of many others.

God is awakening a stronger burden to see our nation turn to Christ that has made us bolder in proclaiming the gospel to the authorities, our neighbors and city as a whole. Like never before this crisis has opened many doors to the gospel, and I pray that as a church we will prove faithful in taking advantage of this new opportunity to see the gospel advanced.

Thank you for this update, my friend. And thank you for your example of faithfulness to the gospel and your love for the local church!

Join us next time as we ask Carlos about his spiritual disciplines, his favorite books, and his reading.

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* Tim Padgett, “Juarez: Running the Most Dangerous City in the Americas,” Time Magazine, March 27, 2009. 

Each year, Sovereign Grace Ministries presents a short documentary highlighting a few of the activities in our family of churches. This year, we produced three shorter films to highlight our Pastors College, our ministry among international churches, and our church-planting activities in the United States.
 
Our second documentary in the 2008 Mission Presentation features Covenant Life Church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was planted by two Pastors College students five years ago and is now planting another church in Addis. View the film here.

Each year, Sovereign Grace Ministries presents a short documentary highlighting a few of the activities in our family of churches. This year, we produced three shorter films to highlight our Pastors College, our ministry among international churches, and our church-planting activities in the United States.
 
The first video features the Pastors College in Gaithersburg and the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany, which sent Christian Wegert to be part of the 2007–2008 Pastors College class. You can watch the nine-minute film, plus two bonus interviews, here. Two additional videos will be released later this month.

Each year, Sovereign Grace Ministries presents a short documentary highlighting a few of the activities in our family of churches. This Mission Presentation is usually made in Sovereign Grace churches over various Sundays in October. This year, we produced three shorter films to highlight each of our funding categories—our Pastors College, our ministry among international churches, and our church-planting activities in the United States.
 
This year’s Pastors College documentary features the Arche Church in Hamburg, Germany, which sent Christian Wegert to be part of the 2007–2008 Pastors College class.

The international documentary features Covenant Life Church of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was planted by two Pastors College students five years ago and is now planting another church in Addis.

The final video is an interview with C.J. Mahaney by Joshua Harris, which addresses some of the structural changes Sovereign Grace Ministries has made to position our ministry for growth in domestic church-planting.

Watch a trailer of the three 2008 Mission Presentation videos here.

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Related: Previous Mission Presentations can be viewed at www.missionvideos.org.

Since last summer Sovereign Grace Ministries has been involved in the launch of Gospel Translations, an initiative that exists to make gospel-centered resources more accessible in the non-English-speaking world. Since launching last September, Gospel Translations has enrolled nearly 300 volunteers, the fruit of which has been more than 230 translations of materials from Sovereign Grace, Desiring God, Ligonier, 9Marks, and others. These translations are posted online and made available to anyone for free.
 
The following video, originally shown at Together for the Gospel 2008 in Louisville, explains more about how the project works. If you’re interested in helping in any capacity—translation, web development, or general administration—you can sign up at the Gospel Translations website. But even if you can’t give time to it, please join us in praying that God would use this project to spread his gospel among the nations.
 
 

***Update: New sites launched in 40 languages***

Gospel Translations now hosts sites in each of the languages for which it has resources. We've listed some of the major ones below, but you can find more on their site. 

Chinese: 圣经的书和布道
Dutch: Bijbelse Boeken en Preken
French: Livres et Prédications Bibliques
German: Biblische Bücher und Predigten
Italian: Libri e Sermoni Biblici
Portuguese: Livros e Sermões Bíblicos
Russian: Библейские книги и проповеди
Spanish: Libros y Sermones Bíblicos

You can see which Sovereign Grace materials are available in other languages by visiting our translations page.