Hello everybody. I was 15 years ago a Jewish atheist philosophy student when, by the grace of God I came to know Him and His precious Word.

Since then, I devote completely to study theology an average of 5-6 hours a day, every day (except sundays) for those last 15 years. For me, theological reflection is the highest end in itself a man can devote his mind to. I was four years in a famous seminary, but I was finally (and politelly) "invited to leave" in view of my stubborn rejection of Dispensationalism, which is for them a true idol.

I´m well known in some Eschatology and other Theological phorums as "bickering", especially when antinomians, arminians, hyper-preterists and dispensationalists appear. I´ve arrived to reformed theology only with the help of good books and above all the leading of the Spirit of Christ, but unfortunatelly I´m unchurched, only for logistical issues, because in the small countryside village I live in, in the center of Mexico, there is no sound church in 150 miles round.

As I told NaphtaliPress, who kindly received me here:

I also take church membership very seriously, but if you saw the bunch of hyper-charismatic, arminian, antinomian, carnal worship, seeker-sensitive, dispensationalist churches there are in my locality, believe me, you would become a lonely christian as I have to be, unfortunately. All of them reunite these six characteristics together!

So for me Christian life has been a real desert, with a very heavy cross on my back. Now I´m looking for a decent Reformed Church in USA to become a "distant member", and I´m even considering the possibility of moving to your country (if I manage to do it legally) and enter into full comunion with all of you.

I also write books (all in Spanish) about Reformed Theology and Apologetics, and I hold constantly debates, buth in person and publicly, as well as through internet with famous atheists in the universities of Mexico and USA.

I also teach the Bible in jails, through a Christian Foundation, which despite having a very poor theology, respects my puritan stance and allows me to teach it.

The Confession of Faith I subscribe mostly is the London Baptist, though I don´t consider the baptism issue as cause for division.

That´s me. I hope that through this community I´ll be able to enter in the comunion of the Saints more and more fully, because my spirit is deeply longhing for it. I have an epistolar relationship with several reformed pastors and theologians in USA, but I would like to take a step further in comunion and Church discipline.

S.D.G.

Ricardo Stern

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Ricardo Stern
Someone who has to learn everyday to think less and less of himself.
Grace OPC, San Antonio, TX
A penitent man is necessarily virtuous; but a virtuous man is not necessarily penitent. Sorrow for sin produces morality; but morality does not produce sorrow for sin.- W. G. T. Shedd

Dios te bendiga, mi hermano!

Bienvenidos a PB.

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Willie Grills
Trinity Presbyterian Church
OPC
Huntington, WV

I'll bet there are some folks on the Puritan Board who can recommend some churches or direct you to some fellowship there in Mexico.

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Wayne Sparkman, Th.M.
Director, PCA Historical Center, St. Louis, MO
Blogs: The Continuing Story and PCA History Blog

Welcome to the PB!

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Yvonne
Reformed Presbyterian
Currently seeking a Church

"A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions." -T. Brooks

So are you Mexican or did you move to Mexico? Just wondering because a Mexican Jewish atheist philosophy student sounds kind of cool. It reminds me of a joke actually, but I'll save it for now.

Welcome brother and God bless you.

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Andrew Thornquist My Photo Album
Calvinistic Baptist
Ukiah, California
To follow Christ was the best decision God made for me!

Just in case some people here are somewhat bewilder of Jews living in Mexico, let me tell you that there have been Jews or better yet People of Jewish descent living in Mexico since the time of Hernan Cortez (since about 500 yrs ago).



Jews have lived in Mexico since the times of the Inquisition. Today the community numbers over 50,000, concentrated primarily in Mexico City. Other communities are found in the state of Jalisco, mainly in Guadalajara and surrounding cities, and in Monterrey, Veracruz, Culiacan, and Tijuana.

There have been Jews in Mexico since Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. Later, there arrived Jews escaping the Inquisition.[1] Some of these Spanish Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism (Converso Jews), but many maintained their Jewish religious practices in secret (for which many were killed in what is known as the Mexican Inquisition). However some Conversos and their progeny maintained the conversions to Christianity and to continue to classify them as Jews one has to accept the racial definition of Jewishness.[2]

Due to the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, few Jews migrated there during the Spanish Colonial Period. In the 1860s, a large number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico. Beginning in the 1880s many Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Romania came to Mexico. Another large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Morocco, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II.

Today, there are around 40,000 Jews in Mexico; it is one of just a handful of countries whose Jewish population is projected to grow in the future. [3] There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico, the biggest of which are the Ashkenazi community. The Mizrahi community is mainly Syrian immigrants who attend the Maguén David and Monte Sinai congregations. Mexican Jews refer to the Mizrahim as "judíos árabes" or "Arab Jews". The Sephardic community is primarily made up of descendents of Turkish immigrants, and also very old generations that descend from Spain.

While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are substantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Recently, a small group of Mexican Jewish families has immigrated to Cancún. There is a small group of implanted American Jews who have relocated to the retirement lake towns of Chapala and Ajijic in the state of Jalisco; they meet once a month for religious services and occasionally interact with their Mexican Jewish counterparts in close by Guadalajara.

In 1938 The Central Committee for the Jewish Community of Mexico ('Comité central de la comunidad judía de México') emerged as the umbrella organization for the varying ethnic and religious Jewish communities in Mexico; its analysis and opinion agency is called the Tribuna Israelita.
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Welcome Ricardo!

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Gil Garcia
Rehoboth Reformed Church (RCUS)
La Habra, CA

"Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity." - Calvin's successor


"By the words of the law man is admonished and taught, not what he can do, but what he ought to do. How is it that you theologians are twice as stupid as schoolboys, in that as soon as you get hold of a single imperative verb you infer an indicative meaning...?"
-Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will

Welcome to PB! And glory to God for your testimony!

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Tian Long (you can call me LTL)
Reformed Baptist
Singapore
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble." - Psalm 46:1 (NKJV)

For His honor, glory and name!

I did not know that Gil; thank you. I knew that there was a tourist in Mexico and while in a restaurant he asked the waiter, "So, do you have any Jews in Mexico?" The waiter, not quite sure what he was being asked, went to the back to ask the chef the question since he knew English a little better. The waiter came back and said, "Si. We has orange jooze, apple jooze, grape jooze"...

Welcome Ricardo!

As you have learned in your journey to the Reformed faith, No es oro todo lo que reluce!

AMR

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Patrick
Member, PCA
Chandler, AZ
ReformedTheologyInstitute.com

I fear explanations explanatory of things explained.

Welcome!!

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Andrea
Presbyterian, attending Baptist church
Perugia, Italy
Owner: federiformata.it

"Quos et vocavit nos non solum ex Iudæis sed etiam ex gentibus" (Rom. 9.24)

If you ever had Ceviche, Horchata, a Churro, Flour Tortilla's, Rice Pudding, etc. it is not Mexican Food, but Jewish Food you ate, primarily Sephardic.

Also,

Most Spanish last names/surnames are Jewish (Sephardic):


Ala, Abadía, Abanillo, Abarim, Abed, Alcazar, Alcañiz, Alemán, Baltasar, Barba, Barceló, Barcelona, Baro, Barrachina, Barrionuevo, Berenguer, Belluga, Caballero, Cabeza, Cabezudo, Cabra, Cáceres, Cádiz, Caldero, Campo, Canete, Carrillo, Cazorla, Chaves, Chico, Chavariz, Chelva, Chapetel, Colombo, Correa, Dalmau, Darmon, Daroca, David, Dávila, Delgado, Díez, Domenech, Donlope, Dormido, Duarte, Elías, Elisa, Elvira, Enero, Enríquez, Escalera, Escobar, Escribá, Espíritu Santo, Espinosa, Espino, Fabib, Fadol, Fajardo, Farache, Faral, Faras, Farias, Faro, Fernándes, Ferrando, Ferrer, Ferrera, Fierro, Fuertes, Fuster, Gabirol, Galaf, Galiana, Gallego, Gallo, Gálvez, Gaona, Garcés, García, García de Moros, Garro, Gato, Gerona, Gilabert, Gil, Haro, Hasid, Hassan, Hascan, Henríques, Herrero, Herrera, Hervás, Hierro, Hospital, Hoz, Illesas, Iniesta, Ismail, Izquierdo, Jara, Jaime, Jordán, Julia, Kahn, Kayffman, Kesselman, Kohan, Krispin, La Torre, Lacalles, Laparda, Laparra, Lara, Laredo, Lauria, Leo, Lerin, Levi, Leyba, Macanas, Macia, Machado, Marqués, Mayo, Mazana, Mazín, Medina, Meir, Melero, Nadal, Nájara, Narváez, Navarro, Natanel, Negrín, Nieto, Noé, Obadia, Obrador, Olivera, Oliveros, Olivos, Olmos, Orduña, Orella, Orgaz, Ortega, Osorio, Pacheco, Padre, Padresanto, Padron, Palache, Palma, Pardo, Paredes, Preciado, Pujol, Pulgar, Querido, Quersi, Quirós, Rabatoso, Ramírez, Ramos, Ravel, Rebasa, Redó, Reina, Rossel, Rosales, Ros, Saavedra, Sabina, Sagarra, Salami, Salgado, Salom, Sánchez, Sánchez De Toledo, Sánchez De Ocaña, Sastre, Tabora, Talavera, Tamarit, Tarazona, Tejedor, Terrasa, Thomas, Toledo, Úbeda, Ulloa, Urrea, Usua, Usillo, Vaamonde, Valderrama, Valencia, Valera, Valeriola, Valero, Vall, Valls, Vaquero, Y un largo etcétera como zaforteza, Zaragoza, Zarco, Zayat, Zorrila.

Hola y bienvenido, hermano!

There are lots of churches like that also in the place where I live.

-----Added 7/17/2009 at 02:48:28 EST-----

Gil, gracias. Mi apellido es Medina (pero no soy Judio). I didn't know that it was Jewish in origin.

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Albert, The Republic of the Philippines
Pasig United Covenant Reformed Church (a Reformed church plant)
United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (UCRCP)
Three Forms of Unity and Westminster Confession of Faith

Psalm 27:1a (AV) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
“Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.” -

Hola hermano. Bienvenidos al PB.

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We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Lawrence Underwood, Jr.
Pastor - Providence Family Fellowship / Mobile, Alabama
1644/46 LBC
My Blog - Imprimis

No Habla Espanol....

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

Welcome brother!
A long time mexican food fan here! I was born in San Diego Ca, 40 miles from the border...

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Robert
Lay Person
PCA
West Virginia
Go share your faith

Welcome, brother!

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Kevin, husband of a truly angelic woman, and father to ten.
Zion United Reformed Church of Sheffield
Ontario, Canada

Ricardo

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Thanks in Christ
Gord
RTI Student
Burlington, Ontario

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.

Welcome to the PB family.

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Jim
1689 LBCF
Independent Bible Church
North Texas, USA

Welcome to the board.

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soli Deo gloria!
~Nicholas~ Ordained Pastor
Member, Fulton PCA; GPTS Student
Christians are like snow covered dung; it is the purity of the covering which the Father sees. -Luther-
There is nothing more ugly than a Christian orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.
-Francis Schaeffer-

Welcome! With a background like that, I bet you'll bring an interesting perspective to the discussions here.

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Andrew C.
IFB
LBCF 1689

Bienvenidos mi hermano en el nombre de Jesus! Estoy orando por la voluntad de Dios para tu vida. Dios te bendiga!

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William Price
Attending Mills Road Baptist Church, Houston, Texas

http://www.commandmentsandjudgment.com

The Reformed Voice Radio Broadcast

LBCF 1689

Welcome..

I love rice pudding..it's one of my favorites, my grandma used to make an awesome pudding..

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Bobbi Clark
Covenant Member
Pinewood Pres. (PCA) Middleburg

When I kept Silent, My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3

sir, and glad to have you aboard!

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Diane
God is Good and we're not.
All Saints Episcopal
Anchorage, AK

Welcome aboard, Ricardo!

I'm an American part-Germanic theist-philosopher-student-engineer. :P

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Jonathan
Audio Engineer
Reformed Anabaptist
Ohio

Moroni's magical glasses of proper interpretation:

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Martin - Reformed
Husband to the most godly, honorable and loyal wife Line
Searching for a Church
Webpage www.5solas.dk
Free Online Reformed Seminary - http://www.tnars.net
Soli Deo Gloria

Hello! Welcome!

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Steven Nemes
Phoenix, AZ

Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy must be answered - C.S. Lewis

Hi

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~ Charles Stephen Barribeau ~
Christ Presbyterian Church , OPC (They sing alot of Psalms!)
Original Westminster Standards (I need to study more...)
The Puritans were best! Also... I NEED TO READ MORE!!!
Philipians1:29(KJV) For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Janesville, Wisconsin (In the fellowship of Bob Vigneault and Matt+Megan Meisberger)

I'm glad to see you here, and sorry to hear about your plight. May God raise up sound laborers to send into the parts of Mexico not particularly close to the US border.

Is Valle de Bravo as lovely as Ixtapan de la Sal?

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Ruben
Moderator
F.P.C.I.
Indiana

Vanities and disguises have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciousness hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuousness hath fed us, and thereby we are sterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant.
John Donne

Board Rules - Signature Requirements - Suggestions?

Calvinistas Conversando
Teología en Mexico
The Howling Wilderness

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Norm
IA PCA

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:4-5

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Michael Tremmel
attending Christ Reformed Baptist Church
Hales Corners, WI.

Isaiah 46:5-11

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Ps.16:8 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. 1 Cor.15:10a ESV

Praecepta docent, exempla movent (precepts teach, but examples move)

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Rangerus
Southern Baptist
Austin, TX
Teacher and Volunteer
1689 LBCF & BF&M 2000

Bienvenidos!

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Ashley
Crossbridge Community Church
Texas
vincit qui patitur

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! Romans 11:33 NASB

Welcome to the PB!

Greetings!

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Mike Myers
Teaching Elder
West Suffolk Baptist Church
Suffolk, Virginia

Many a plain, honest, unlearned disciple of Christ, by meditation, experience, prayers, and especially obedience, attains to a more clear, sound, and useful knowledge of the word of God, than some great scholars with all their wit and learning. Matthew Henry

This is a good place to learn reformed theology and grow in grace toward one another.

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Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

Wow... I can´t believe in one week I have more Puritan friends than I´ve been able to know in all my life!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! I´ll be contacting some of you directly in the next days... Dios los bendiga a todos!

Greetings! Nice to meet you

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Josiah Lovett
Member of
Trinity OPC
Bothell WA
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Westminster Standards

Welcome!

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Patrick
MDiv, RTS Jackson
Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC), Lisbon, NY

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.
"Let us not please ourselves that we have deep understandings, but let us shew our understandings by our practice." Richard Sibbes

Welcome!!!
I have a good friend who just moved to Mexicali with his family to be a missionary. He's an ordained minister in the PCA.

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Alex - Orange County, CA - PCA

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

Manton - "The sovereign dominion of God is a great prop to our faith."

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sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!