Bits From Brasil

Missions support-raising conversation

2011-12-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday the 20th of December I had lunch with Roy Seals and Jeremy Wallace. They walked into the BX where my in-laws run a restaurant and I immediately told them that I wanted to be a part of their conversation. Roy Seals is a mission agency director and Jeremy Wallace is a Pastor. Recently Jeremy wrote a blog post about the structure of missions. All three of us agree that the system independent Baptist churches use to support missionaries is not the ideal. Actually it is far from ideal that missionaries must call so many churches and travel so many miles. Not that they do not learn much from the process, but the difficulties of doing this are unnecessary. So what is the answer to this? How do we change the face of independent Baptist missions? Most people would agree that if churches would support less missionaries for more money per month, we would save much money (millions of dollars per year). But how do we get to that point? It appears to me that some churches are willing to move to a system like that, but are completely unsure of what the transition would look like resulting in no change whatsoever. I understand. Especially as a Baptist, any change is difficult. But if we do not act now, we will continue needlessly spending money on gas and hotels when we could spend it on more missionary time on the field.What are some steps an individual or a church can take?1. Educate yourself or those around you on the process of support raising in missions.2. Be an agent of change yourself.3. Churches can stop taking on new missionaries and support other missionaries for more. (I am a missionary needing more support and would tell any church; if you are doing this and it negatively affects me, but helps the overall cause of missions, go ahead, God will provide for me). 4. Do not have missionaries travel half way across the country for a meeting if you have no intention of supporting them. (Or drive anywhere, screen them beforehand).5. Get involved in the lives of the missionaries, especially those sent out by your home church. 6. Talk to those around you about this. If you are a Pastor; express to others a willingness to approach this white elephant in the room. Do not ignore it. 7. Respond to this post with more suggestions on what we can do. I do not have all the answers. Actually, I am no where close. 8. If you love Jesus and missions, post this blog post everywhere; on your Facebook page, bottom of your emails, memos to co-workers, your bulletin, make the link a bumper sticker, and consider getting it tattooed on your forehead (a non-permanent tattoo of course). (that whole number 8 is sarcastic).

Time to Change

2011-11-29T09:33:00.001-05:00

I woke up with a thought about change this morning inspired by an email a couple of days ago. Why wait until January 1st to make changes. A wise person with integrity will make a change when he realizes it needs to be made. Once you see sin in your life, you have several options. The best option is to repent or change. Our actions are determined by decisions we have made. Too often we just do not have a strong enough resolution to get over problems. So we need to use our stubbornness, which I know most of us have as a strong natural characteristic, and say "I will make this change." Our resolutions usually fail because we really do not want to change that bad. We hold on to that which is comfortable or what we are used to.

Reverse Culture Shock

2010-07-31T19:59:00.003-04:00

So I really didn't think that I would experience reverse culture shock upon returning to the US. But I was wrong. I guess it was not too drastic, but there are definitely some changes to be noted and it has led to some sort of embarrassment on my part. My brother Phil was talking to me in preparation for his wedding and he said some words where I just had no idea what they meant. I really did not want to admit that I did not know what he was talking about. This also happened in several other circumstances in talking about technology. I did not know what an iphone looked like and would have no clue what is on the market right now.
Sarah told me that she was nervous about coming back to the US due to her wardrobe possibly being out of style. Of course, we all know, at least I do, that fashion follows her. Sarah was clueless after her sister told her that she had bought a certain style of clothing for Evelyn. Anna replied that she would know soon enough cause "everyone had them."
I also found out that everything is not cool anymore. It is chill. And if you are really chill, you are mega chill. Well, I have had 4 weeks here so far and am trying to adjust. But the truth is that I probably won't fit in for a while. Basically that means that we will not fit in either place, which is kind of a weird feeling. I guess that is just part of life now. So for now I am just working on reaching the chill stage. I am not there yet, but maybe soon.

Aprenpleship

2010-07-27T15:52:00.002-04:00

Well, the name might not work, but I am once again writing about a crazy idea I have had. It is for Christians who are serious about making disciples and it is for Christians in the workplace. Maybe not whichever workplace will do, but most could. Through college and a little afterwards I was a painter. I enjoy painting, but sure am glad that I am not doing it for a living. But my old boss/crime partner in painting had started this idea at one point.
The idea has to do with combining discipleship and apprenticeship. During work, Ben would take a few minutes out of lunch break talking to a couple of his workers about God. They actually started going through "The Story of Hope" book, which is a chronological overview of God's Redemptive plan in the Bible. You can use it for both evangelism and discipleship.
Owners of small businesses could provide jobs as well as discipleship to a young person in the church, construction workers, painters, plumbers, electricians, etc... could have a youth work under you and have plenty of time for informal discipleship talk on the job, and most people could find some time in their busy schedules to work God's Great Commission.
What do you think? What would work for you and your job or how would you like someone to disciple you as you work?

A bit on Romans

2010-07-24T15:33:00.002-04:00

I do miss writing a bit. I get a chance to write some, but not near as much since having a daughter. I never realized how much work kids are. So while the little Evelynator is napping, I decided to write some. I started writing on the book of Romans a while ago and hope that in the future I can continue my study of it. No other book of the Bible has as much doctrine nor the depth of doctrine as Romans does. I can't think of any book that convicts me as much as Romans does either. But it also gives so much hope. The verse that sums up Romans in my opinion is Philippians 1:6- "Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in me will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ." God calls us from our dirty, rotten sinful background into an abundant life in which He completely sanctifies us in the end. We have our battles that we fight and we choose between God and sin so often, but ultimately, it is God who pulls us through them. Romans explains that process and encourages us to choose to follow Christ every time.

What I have been doing instead of blogging

2010-03-16T17:30:00.000-04:00

God is so good to us. You know we don't really deserve much in life. Right now we are in Manaus, Amazonas, the capital city of the Amazon. We have been in the interior for about 3 months now. There have been a couple times during this trip where I have said, "I deserve this cause..." and that really is the wrong attitude to have. What we all deserve is hell. I preach that all the time, but forget it often when I am not preaching.
Doing things in the Amazon is not like the rest of the world. It can be tiring and frustrating. Fortunately the last couple of days in Manaus have gone great! We came to get both an American and a Brazilian passport for Evelyn and we have already applied for both of them and the process has gone well. We are so excited!
Communication has been harder in the Amazon. We don't have internet at our house and so I have not been able to do any blogging the last few months. I do miss it somewhat. Today I am just happy to be able to get online on my own computer. life is all about perspective sometimes. We can learn how to be grateful and not take things for granted by reading and experiences of others, or often God can take you through circumstances that will lead to those feelings later on. I hope that you learn to learn from reading!

Jonah and the Whale

2009-11-24T08:18:00.002-05:00

No, no, no, no my friends. It is not Jonah and the Whale. The story is about Jonah and God. The whale takes up 2 verses out of 4 chapters. Dr. David Kemp, my college Bible teacher made sure we learned that. I think we Christians like to have our two verses though. We like to pick out things from the Bible and make them the whole Bible. We like to take little themes and make them big.
But what are the big themes in the Bible. The Bible is a story afterall and stories have to have main themes. What are those in the Bible (I have my thoughts, but I want to hear from you guys first).

Asking for Support

2009-11-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

I have always wanted to be like Hudson Taylor who trusted God for every penny and never asked others for a penny. As a missionary, you pretty much start out your career asking for money full time by presenting your ministry. So now that we are here, if we lack money, do we ask men or God? I was talking to a friend about this and said that I did not think that I had the faith to just trust God as Taylor did. He was in situations where he gave away his last coin. I have never been in a situation like that. God has always provided beforehand for me.
So the question I pose to you all is: at what point do you ask others for help, or should that point never happen because we are just supposed to trust God?

God's Will

2009-10-19T12:27:00.002-04:00

This Sunday morning, our Sunday school class got into a discussion about God's will. It was kind of random, but it was good. On Wednesday, I am actually doing a Bible study on Living God's Will with at least one other guy. When it comes to knowing God's will, our feelings can get complicated. Ideas about knowing how to tell God's will are all over the place. I have always followed Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." I think that is saying that if we are walking with God and following what the Bible tells us to do, we will be able to do whatever we want to do! It sounds much simpler than it plays out, but God wants us to work on our relationship with Him and the rest will play out. There are so many verses in the Bible that talk about what God's will in our lives is. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. That is enough to keep you busy for a while.
As we work on our relationship with Christ, God will guide us in those major "will of God" decisions that we must go through (like school, career, marriage and if you should just stop rooting for the Detroit Lions all together). God sends godly counselors our way to help us out with those decisions and He promises us wisdom if we ask for it (James 1:5).
God has called all of us to serve Him. I was going to say some part time and some full time, but really, we are all full time. At work we should be constantly serving Him, no matter if you are a Pastor, secretary, construction worker, painter, plumber or whatever. We are all to be a full time Christian. I count myself extremely blessed to serve Him and get paid for it! So if you are faced with a tough decision, be sure to be seeking God through prayer and Bible reading, seek godly counsel and then trust God to lead you to the right decision.

First born

2009-10-05T08:26:00.002-04:00

So I have long been a fan of studying birth order. It really intrigues me. Since there is a seven year gap between my older brother and me, I am considered by birth order specialists to be a first born (in my characteristics). I read Lehman's book a few years ago and really felt he was talking about me.
The last couple of days I have wondered if there is a correlation between a couple of observations. Firstborns are generally perfectionists and more responsible amongst other things. Then when you look at new parents; they are generally really careful with their first child. They don't want to do anything wrong and take all the precautions like boiling pacifiers, getting the right schedule down and making sure everything is done by the books. After the first child I have heard that these precautions ease up as they realize the baby will live without all these tedious tasks.
What do you guys think; is there a link between these two observations?

New Baby!

2009-09-21T15:29:00.002-04:00

At around 3:30 on Sunday morning Sarah and I had both woken up, which had been the norm the last couple of months. Sarah had some back pains and then decided to go to the bathroom. She thought that her water broke, but was not for sure until she laid back down and started to have contractions. We both took a shower and prepared everything to leave. Sarah said that it was like getting ready for going to Six flags because of getting up early and being so excited. Sarah even did her hair, which she claimed was not as far fetched to do while in labor as her aunt who also did her make-up. Southerners, unbelievable. We grabbed everything (except Sarah’s purse that had all her ID’s in it) and our friend Monica met us at our apartment to go with us. Being that it was 4:30 in the morning, traffic was fortunately light. Upon arriving, we sent Monica back the 40 minute drive to get Sarah’s ID (thanks Monica) and I dealt with the payment stuff while Sarah got checked out upstairs. Unfortunately, insurance proved to be a pain again, but the staff here was very kind. In our tour of the hospital, we were shown the five rooms Sarah would be switched to through labor and her stay in the hospital. But after the first check up room, they moved her straight to the labor room because she was having a quick labor. After the contractions got worse and worse, we had the anesthesiologist come and give her some shots (not an epidural) and that relieved the pain enough for her to really be able to push more. For a while Evelyn would pop back up every time Sarah pushed her down, but after the doctor told Sarah she would have to have a C-section if Evelyn did not come out soon, she came out on the next contraction. I have never seen Sarah so relieved, excited and happy all at the same time in my life. I have also never been more proud of her. She did a great job and we were so excited. It took Evelyn a while to warm up after her bath, but it did not seem to worry any of the nurses. Soon after weighing, measuring, footprinting, bathing and warming her she arrived in her mother’s arms again.
We praise God for this little miracle He has entrusted us with for this passing moment. We had wanted Sarah’s mom and sister to be here to witness the birth, but once we arrived at the hospital, we found out that they would only have been able to come in once, one on one day, and the other on the next from 3-5 in the afternoon. The swine flu has scared people down here into making some crazy little rules. So the actual date of their arrival, Tuesday, will actually work out perfect because it will be our first day at home. So it has been neat to see God’s sovereignty in even the little things in life!

Truths about child birth

2009-09-21T15:28:00.000-04:00

Here are some facts about child birth:
1. The birth is a painful process. Everyone knows that one.
2. The baby is born ugly. When the doctor pulled Evelyn out it looked like she was holding a cat by its back. She just kind of threw this blue and red bulge onto Sarah’s lap while my thoughts drifted to the books that said they weren’t pretty when they came out. I thought I was prepared for that, but I didn’t know she would look that bad. Even after a bath she still had spots over her and was a little discolored.
3. The baby poops tar for a couple of days. It looks disgusting and the baby actually loses weight the first day. I think Evelyn lost like half a pound.
4. Realization that you have a huge responsibility in caring for a child occurs shortly after the birth, or at least it should. I tried to pray about it, but my eyes kept tearing up thinking about that responsibility.
5. Nurses and doctors are great. I know that generally they are helping people and make good money, but they do so many “dirty” jobs with so much grace.

Missionary Interviews #1- Niles in Togo

2009-09-17T13:28:00.004-04:00

I recently emailed several missionaries about sharing some of their experience on the field. I wrote down several questions for them to answer. The first missionaries to respond were Alain and Katherine Niles. We got to know them during Field Prep Seminar last April and they were a big blessing. They have a great heart for the people and here is what they had to say:

1. In a short paragraph, can you sum up what your ministry is all about:
We are living in Mango, Togo. Our ministry is to empower the Tchokossi people to follow God in all aspects of life. One of our main objectives is to see this Hospital project completed here in our town.

2. What inspired you to be involved in missionary work?
We both grew up on the mission field and have a desire to work with Muslims

3. How has your adaptation to the culture gone?
Still adapting I suppose...The most difficult is knowing we will never really fit in because of our skin color. One other difficulty is the heat...it's a killer

4. And the language, how has that been?
Language is tricky, it is a tonal language which means the change of tone in my voice can change the meaning of the word. Since Katherine is pregnant we have learned to tell people she is expecting, in their language they say "she is holding her stomach" or "she tripped on a rock" or "she is carrying luggage" the list just keeps going...

5. Any good stories from you messing up the language?
Katherine was teaching some students and mispronounced the name of one young man which was suppose to be Koku, instead she said Kodu which means banana. It was fun to see his expression as she continued to call him Banana throughout the whole morning. We just hope he wasn't too insulted.

6. What are the main ministry opportunities you have?
we are simply building relationships and living out our walk with God for others to see.

7. Are there any out of the box ideas you are thinking about doing for ministry?
Going back to taking time to invest in the lives of people. Walking through their difficulties and joys with them.

8. Put a plug in here for recruitment: what opportunities are available on your field?
many opportunities for medical staff to get this hospital going. You don't want us to be involved in the medical work...

Let me know if you would like to hear more from Alain and Katherine's work. I love receiving their update emails. I always think of them as real missionaries with the tough language they have to learn, heat to fight and real pioneer work that they are doing.

Successful missionaries

2009-09-14T09:55:00.003-04:00

What is a successful missionary? I think that the answer that pops out is one who has a bunch of salvation decisions and baptisms. Could be one who goes to where there is no church and starts one and it eventually results in having all kinds of programs and maybe a Bible institute, orphanage or any number of ministries.
I think that the command to be faithful would probably be the clearest sign of a successful missionary. But I also think that it is more than that, because I think that you can be faithful in that you are on the mission field, but not necessarily faithful in getting work done. A successful missionary will actively be working towards making disciples. But I think that there are also many stages to this including plowing (working on people who have never even heard of Jesus or are totally against Him), sowing the seed of the Word of God through evangelism, reaping by seeing people saved, and growing or discipling them which is a long process of seeing believers mature in the faith, be leaders in churches and even be Pastors or be sending out missionaries. There are so many aspects to the process of making disciples that limiting the definition of a successful missionary to one who sees lots of decisions is hard to do.
What do you think?

Sharing thoughts

2009-09-11T12:53:00.002-04:00

I love talking. Sometimes I am talking and think, "you know, I am probably annoying the heck out of this person listening to me ramble on." But then I keep talking.
But sometimes talking things out is necessary. Too many people try to keep things bottled up. Talking and writing things out gets thoughts out of your mind for other people to think about and advise you on. I have lots of ideas and too many times they just stay ideas in the mind that I long to get out. Writing has always been a good way to get them out, but talking has been as well. Sometimes we think that no one cares about our ideas or our thoughts or worries. Of course, God cares about them, and so many other people care as well. I think we underestimate how much our friends care about us sometimes. We think that we cannot share because no one will care. I do not think that is true. I love to hear from other people. I love to listen or read people's ideas or people's struggles, whether it be just to listen, or to offer advice. One of my favorite things to hear about are people's dreams for what they want to do in their life. I have one friend who is working on getting Christian radio stations up and going in places where they don't have them, another who wants to teach kids about baseball and God through camps, another who wants to teach non-violent communication through blogging, a few who want to plant churches and others who want to do all kinds of things. Don't keep your ideas, thoughts or worries bottled in, but be sure to share them with God through prayer and with those close to you or with me. I would love to hear about them and help you in your walk with God through life as much as possible.

Heartbeat

2009-09-08T21:17:00.002-04:00

So a couple weeks ago, Sarah had a doctor's appointment and after hearing Evelyn's heart beating really fast, I said that it was beating for her father. Of course, common joke or should I say, dream of each father to be. But thinking about it, I thought that was kind of a selfish and prideful thought. Really, I hope that beautiful little girl's heart is beating for God. I hope that her life exists to bring glory to Him. And I hope that my life does as well. We have a choice in what our heart beats for and that choice has to do with what we love. Do we love that music group or TV show or certain guy or girl? Love is not a bad thing at all, but we need to make sure first of all that we love God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ with all everything that we are.

The Most Common Missions Outreach

2009-09-06T11:53:00.002-04:00

I could be wrong on this one, cause there are many other common outreaches like sports, puppets or drama, but probably the easiest outreach to start around the world right now is an English as a Second Language Outreach. It is amazing to see how many opportunities for classes are available in so many places (besides Australia, South Africa and other countries that already speak English).
People here in Porto Alegre value English lessons greatly. When I walk to our church, about a mile away, I pass three English schools. They are all over and it is a great privilege to have an American as a Professor. I have never really wanted to teach English, but I think that I am going to start more classes now because of the great opportunity to make contacts. I currently teach one student, Juarez, because another missionary here is on furlough in the states and asked me to teach him. It started off rough, cause I didn't know too much about what I was doing, but now it is not too bad. It is neat to build the relationship and see progress in his English.
What about where you are at? Be it in the states or abroad. Are there those opportunities? Someone recently told me that they thought that Christians were missing the boat on the opportunity of helping out all the Hispanic immigrants that go to the US. ESL would be a great outreach for them!

Blogging about mission work

2009-09-04T09:49:00.002-04:00

So I have been thinking about things to do for this blog that would make it more interesting. This week my friend Joe from college has been visiting and we got to talking about writing on our way back from Gramado, which is a couple hours away. He mentioned blogging more on missions and the changing face of it and what people are doing different in missions today. So I am thinking about putting a survey together and asking missionaries from different parts of the world to give some input on it. And I may be focusing more on missions from now on. Would anyone hate me for doing that? I will still add some personal stuff here and there of course.

Pursuit of Happiness

2009-08-27T09:37:00.002-04:00

So I was thinking about this movie the other day. I thought about showing it if we did a movie night at the church. Of course, as Christians we would say that stability and wealth do not bring happiness, but I am sure that most of us still seek it. I think that the important part is our motive behind seeking wealth and stability. Do we need it for happiness or are we satisfied in Christ? Also, what do we want to do with wealth? The Christians in Acts shared everything one with another. Was that just the popular thing at the time or was it recorded in the Bible as an example for us to follow after?
I know that personally, I have dreams of getting rich. I have my plans to make money in the long run. Of course, being a missionary is probably not the best means, but there are still ways of earning more money over time. I have always been cheap and so even with our missionary salary, we have been able to save and we also have kept our condominium in the states, renting it out, which will help out financially in the future. But even if I did eventually make a lot of money, what are my reasons for it? Would I use it for those dreams of solving some missionary support raising problems, or would I buy a nice new car? To be honest, I am not sure what I would do. I have had a dream of supporting missionaries through real estate, but would I be willing to contribute my condo to see it happen? I am not sure about that because it would be a big sacrifice (it's Evelyn's college fund).
What about you? Are you striving for happiness through riches? Or do you have any plans to "change the world" with what you will make?

5 missed calls

2009-08-23T17:29:00.002-04:00

A few hours ago, I left Sarah laying down as I went to play soccer at the park with the guys from the Vila. It is actually a decent temp here so I took my shirt off and wrapped my phone and keys in it and started playing. After a while I decided to head out and I checked the time. Immediately I saw that I had 5 missed calls on my phone. The first one was from the apartment and the rest from a couple other people. I tried to call home, but was out of cell phone credit. I started running and drove home quickly, heart pounding and regrets all the way. I thought Sarah had gone into labor. She is less than 5 weeks out at this point, so I guess it could be anytime, or still a good month away. Nevertheless I was thinking, "Great, on Evelyn's birthday every year, people are going to say, remember when Evelyn was born, her mom went into labor, and her dad was off somewhere playing soccer. She was almost born at home...neglectful dad."
Well, I got home and Sarah was safe and sound. She didn't think anything of it as I said over and over that I was glad she was not in labor. I wonder if this is what the next 5 weeks are going to be like. I need to get credit on the cell phone.

2009-08-17T22:37:00.002-04:00

Just thought I would brag a little here. I feel fine doing that as long as it has nothing to do with me. Two of my brothers are going to be having their work shown in Grand Rapids soon. Phil for a short film: http://www.grfilmfestival.com/film.php?filmID=84

and Dan for his paintings: http://www.artprize.org/artist/id/4108

Both are very talented in what they do and I am looking forward to what they do in the future.

Reaching out

2009-08-16T20:52:00.003-04:00

So right now I am trying to use the internet to reach out. Is that weird? I guess not, but I am not sure how affective it will be. But if it reaches one person, it is worth it. One problem we have had in the church plant we are at with making contacts. It is hard to make contacts here and then get them to come to anything. They are very work oriented and then family oriented. When they are not working, they are with family or watching soccer. The other day, the Pastor here and I had a discussion about ways to reach out because we have tried some things, and it seems like we hit road blocks. This year we thought we were turning a corner, but lately things just have not been panning out. We get people to come to some events, but that is the maximum involvement.
What are some interesting ways to reach out to those around you where you are at?

Government and Deacon boards

2009-08-07T11:58:00.002-04:00

I was talking about the government the other day and decided to write something about it. I have tried not to get into politics on this blog, but I couldn't resist. It seems lately that the house and senate have been listening to the President and following whatever he says (a general statement, I know there are cases where they haven't). But that is what was going to happen with this bill and Obama expected it to happen. But don't we stop having a government and start with a dictatorship when this happens? If they are just a yes-board, doesn't that ruin the point of having them?
I think this happens in churches sometimes. Instead of a deacon or elder board, you have a yes-board. The Pastor does what he feels the Lord wants him to do, which is great, but I think that there are reasons for having groups make decisions. There is much more wisdom in groups. Elders are there to provide wisdom and feedback and prayer support and so much more. We should have confidence that we can trust every Pastor, but we probably should not let them know that and keep a leadership group together to make the big decisions. We need to show that group decisions are better than individual decisions. It seems to me that power gets into people's heads and makes them think thoughts they have never thought before. I mean, look at what happened to Spider-man.
So let's encourage our government and our churches to use the wisdom of the group when making important decisions about our life.

Some quotes on language

2009-08-04T22:06:00.002-04:00

Here are some quotes that I have collected about language and basically talking. I wish that I could claim them, but I can't. The tongue is a very dangerous weapon and a lot of regrets in life have come from it's tip.

"No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut." -Sam Rayburn

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." -Leo Aikman

"Never explain. Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe it anyway." -Elbert Hubbard

"Promise what you can deliver, then deliver more than you promise." -Not Sure

"Never ruin an apology with an excuse." -Kimberly Johnson

"The easiest way to keep a secret is without help." -Again Not Sure

"Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you." -Spanish proverb

"Do not repeat anything you will not sign your name to." Not Sure III

"Tis better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." -Mark Twain

"Just cuz you said it doesn't make it so." -Jeff Elliot

Babies and Evolution

2009-08-01T08:27:00.002-04:00

So this morning I was laying in bed with my wife with my hand on her stomach feeling Evelyn doing her morning exercises (23 push-ups, 40 sit-ups, and three rounds from a new pre-birth-Wii-type kickboxing game). I was thinking about the amazingness of birth and how cool it is that my wife has a living baby inside her belly. At various random points during this pregnancy I have been slightly jealous that my wife has a baby moving around in her belly. I mean I have experienced gas before that made my stomach do weird things, but have a solid 15 inch baby in my belly; that I have never been able to experience. Of course the other side effects to it have caused that jealousy to subside rather quickly.
How does evolution explain the capability of reproducing? I mean, I know that there are intelligent scientists out there who think that I am ignorant for believing in Creationism. And I don't really want to bash them; I just wonder how that is explained. Yeah, dirt collided and there was energy, etc... and then this all resulted in an ability for mankind and animals to reproduce. Just curious.

Rapture

2009-07-28T15:39:00.004-04:00

So Sarah and I were laying in bed last night thinking about the future. I actually started out the conversation with "I wonder if we will ever get to be old." Then we got on to the baby and the rapture and we got to thinking about our doctrines and figured out that something has got to be wrong about what we were brought up believing; we don't know what, but something.

You see, we always were told about the age of accountability, which I personally don't believe in right now, but it sure makes a lot of people feel better. Anyway, if we believe in the age of accountability, then we believe that babies will all go to heaven when the rapture happens, that is (the other belief I grew up on) if we believe in a pre-tribulational rapture. So if we believe in that, then we would believe that all babies will go to heaven at the rapture, and with our pro-life views, we believe that since life begins at conception, we would have to believe that at the rapture there will be pregnant women who are no longer pregnant. Does that make sense? Are you following me?

So what about the verse that says at the time of the beginning of the tribulation, "Woe to those who give suck in those days..." If all of our beliefs (most of the people that read this blog) are true, there wouldn't be any babies that would be nursing at that time. One of our beliefs has to give. Of course, none of them are major doctrines of the faith, and I personally do not believe in the age of accountability (not that it couldn't be true, but I don't think it has Biblical basis, and I believe that we just have to trust that God knows what He is doing). Also, lately I have thought that our pre-trib view of the rapture has little solid Biblical basis, although that is certainly what I am hoping for, and certainly at this point what I believe.

Anyway, what do you guys think?

Do you find, as I do, the thought of babies in the womb being raptured as an interesting thought?

God's timing

2009-07-21T10:26:00.002-04:00

Last week my brother was supposed to have knee surgery. The week before at a softball game a Pastor had prayed that he would not even have to do the surgery. No one else had thought about praying that, but on the day of the surgery, the surgeon opened up his knee and say that Jeff's knee was healing itself, that he would not have to reconstruct anything, did a little cleaning, and closed it back up. I talked to my dad about it the other night and he told me some stories of God working and solving problems sometimes without our even praying that way for them to be solved. Sometimes we try our own ways. Anyway, I realized that I have not really posted much about answered prayer that we have seen the last year or so.
About a year and a half ago, we were trying to get to Field prep seminar and needed a bunch more support. One couple decided to support us for 200 dollars a month, which is a very high amount for an individual, and we didn't even know the couple. That was a big faith booster. More recently though, they stopped supporting us...but another couple we barely know picked us up for the exact amount.
The main time that we really saw God working was last summer. Seeing all of our support come in was a huge blessing. Then things happened with our Visas. The day before we were supposed to go apply for our Visas, I was waiting to for a package with a document we needed. I had to go and had given up hope and headed out the door when the UPS truck pulled up. I think that the UPS man thought I was really weird cause I was so excited. Then when we had applied for our Visas we had a deadline that we needed to hear about getting them before we could leave for Brazil. On the last day we could hear, I got the phone call that we had received them. What an emotional moment that was. I remember clearly being on a ladder helping my friend Mitch paint his house. I had just said, "Mitch, the way God has been working for us in the last second, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they called today." And then the phone rang, and I said, "oh my word Mitch, it is them."
Traveling to Brazil with 18 pieces of luggage and no problems was an answer to prayer, as well as the shipping price we received for them as well. And there have been numerous answers and blessings since then, and we are looking for many more, cause we know that we serve a faithful God.

Love

2009-07-19T20:37:00.004-04:00

I was just putting my baby to bed thinking about my love for her. I have always heard that your love for your spouse grows over the years, but I never imagined how much. Looking back to the beginning, I think about how I barely knew my wife compared to how well I know her now. I have always compared life to a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, and maybe love is like that for some, but I think that love is more like two mountains standing right next to each other. The first mountain is when you first get together. Some people start at the top of the mountain (you would call it love at first sight), and some people take a time of getting to know each other before they actually fall in love. But either way, around the engagement period or the time of marriage, or at some point, the couple is on the mountain top. The thoughts there generally or at this point I am talking about: My husband/wife can do no wrong. They are the best. We are so much in love, I can't believe it. It is a great feeling and you never want it to go away.
But then sometime after that you figure out there is something wrong with this person and that they are not the best. and..."you've lost that loving feeling, ohoohooooh, loving feeling..." Well, I don't want to say you totally lost it, but you certainly are not on the mountain top still and probably every couple experiences a different valley. Personally, I don't think that I experienced a huge valley or anything, I just realized how little I actually knew Sarah. I hadn't really known what I was getting into and I don't mean that in a bad way, just to say that you fall in love, act on it, but that is a different season in life.
So then your love starts to grow more and more (at least it should ideally). You start to know your spouse more and more and love them more and more. I know this isn't with everyone, but it has been with me. Some people even say that you eventually look more and more like your spouse. I know that many great marriages merge their humor, likes/dislikes, etc... And you love more and more.
I say all that to say that it is kind of like our love for God. We receive Christ as our Savior and we are on a mountain top. Everyone's journey to arrive at that point is different, but generally you are there. And then after a while, a fellow Christian does you wrong, or you get confused about the Trinity, or someone sits in your delegated seat at church and you realize that life after salvation is not perfect.
And some people drop off at that point (just like some marriages do too). Both are very unfortunate. But hopefully you keep on going and learning more and more about God and growing in your love for Him.
And eventually you get to the point where you are amazed at how much you love your spouse, or you are passionate in your love for your Savior. This is what we shoot for. And just for the record, this thought came into my mind tonight because of my incredibly awesome wife who I love so much more than I ever thought I would and who through her love for me has given me a tiny glimpse of what it means to be loved by the eternal God and our future spouse, God's Son, Jesus Christ.

I don't get it

2009-07-08T11:00:00.002-04:00

So I really try to be a nice guy, but I think that I get run over too often. I guess that I could write a bunch of times this has happened, but the current ones are that I am still waiting for a mailbox key, even though we moved over a month ago. I also feel like I bother people if I call them too many times to remind them of what they are supposed to do.
Do I have a right to feel like I need to be treated right? Do I need to take it every time someone runs over me like that? I know that patience is a virtue and that we need to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, but how do we exhibit righteous anger? And is it worth it for me to do that? What is better for my testimony, having patience and being run over, or gently urging someone to do what they have promised? Maybe someday I will just end up a punk.

Why the Catholic church has succeeded

2009-07-03T09:13:00.002-04:00

I am not sure if the Catholic church has started to lose followers lately, I think they have, but they sure have been successful as a church in the past as far as getting a crowd. In Brazil, I have heard that the Catholic population to be as high as 85-90% and that is just one country out of many that have Catholicism as their main religion. Why is that so?
I was thinking this morning about a conversation I had in Sunday school a while back with someone who was not in line with our Baptist belief. She was convinced that her friend, who was not religious, but very good, would not be sent to hell by God. "He, in fact, was better than most Christians she knew." And you know what, it makes sense. I think that is why Catholicism has been successful, because according to our natural beliefs, it makes sense. We all tend to know what is "fair" and always want to be treated fairly. Catholicism says, basically, that if we do more good than bad, we will go to heaven. And that is what comes naturally to believe. And since everyone believes themselves to be basically good in their own eyes, we will all go to heaven.
That is the main reason I think it has done well, but there are others like having an official representative for God, offering plenty of works based services, being state run often times, and other things that I can't think of right now. But for now, here is a video to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrLzYw6ULYw&feature=related

Family

2009-06-23T16:10:00.002-04:00

I guess I do a lot of posts (in proportion to how many posts I actually write) dealing with family, but I guess it is because family is important. Recently I feel like I have seen a little bit about what the Bible says about family in one part of the Bible. Someone asked Jesus about leaving their family for His sake and He replied saying that they would receive a hundred fold as far as family goes. I think what He meant by that has something to do with what we have experienced here in Brasil.
By no merit of our own, we have a bunch of mothers here and fathers and brothers and sisters. There are so many people that would do so much for us and care so much about us. Recently we moved to an apartment where we will live for six months. We needed a few little things like plates, cups, and other kitchen things as well as a few other items. We had so many people here help us out with whatever we needed. Also to rent we needed a cosigner. And the process is a lot more involved with cosigners here. We had a friend who took care of so much of it for us and even though he is very busy, was available for whatever we needed. The relationships here have been amazing and we are so blessed despite how much we do not deserve it.
I write this not meaning to talk about ourselves, but just cause I thought that it is neat to show how God provides and fulfills His promises.

Romans

2009-06-08T19:30:00.001-04:00

So we have been going through Romans in our Sunday school class as well as in our church services. I have really learned a lot and am so glad I have the opportunity to study and teach the book. It is so rich and deep and our discussions have really grown me in my walk with God, as well as my appreciation for His Sovereignty. This week we learned from Romans 5 that God justifies us and then does not leave us hanging. The Spirit is there to guide us through, to make us holy, and then one day glorify us in heaven. I am so glad that He is still working on me, to make me what I need to be.

The Soccer Tourney

2009-05-31T12:31:00.002-04:00

Last night Sarah and I laughed about quite a few things. The night before we had gone to a renewing of the vows wedding ceremony for some colleagues of ours. At the wedding a little boy asked us, "When you laugh, do you laugh in Portuguese, or English?" We laughed and then I told him that when I am on the computer it depends on if I am writing in English (lol, haha) or Portuguese (hehe,jajaja).
We left the wedding early enough to attempt to get a good night's rest before we woke up in a flurry of preparation for the soccer tournament. All week I had seen that the weather forecasts called for rain but I had not given up hope, until 45 minutes before the tourney was to start when it began to downpour. I called and canceled everything, and then went to the field to meet my friends and tell them it was canceled. By the time three of them had showed up the rain had stopped. The three meteorologists then predicted no rain for the rest of the day despite the full cloud cover (and weather.com forecast of rain all day). On top of that, they said that they could not do the tournament any other day and talked me into still playing. So I called everyone back and we went on with it. Three teams showed up and we started playing with a light rain that turned into a heavy rain by the second half. Then we played the second game in a lake (and the field we use is all dirt inside a tall fence). It was muddy and sloppy to say the least.
The main purpose of the event was to share the gospel a little as well as to invite the guys to study the Bible. That mission was accomplished and we had one young man that was interested in possibly coming to our Thursday night Bible study that we do at our house. So even though the tournament was not all that I imagined it would be, and much shorter, we still accomplished the main purpose and for that we give praise to the Lord.
We then went back to our house and I handed out the prizes, said a little something about being there to share about the Bible, our Pastor here gave his testimony, and then we ate (all took place in our car port because everyone felt bad about entering the house).

Keeping balanced

2009-05-13T13:32:00.001-04:00

There are all kinds of Christians in this world. There are Christians who say that they are free to do certain things and then there are Christians who say that all Christians need to go by a set of rules. They should read their Bible, pray, go to church, be involved in the church, witness to others, tithe… Then there are other Christians who say that God does not care what church you go to, or if you go to church, what matters is your relationship to Him and that you are trying to do good for Him. Then there is a new generation of action believers which believe that you should be constantly doing good, loving your neighbors, giving to the poor, living modestly, and not worry about preaching about Jesus, just show Him in your life. Some believe that you just need to believe in Jesus and what He did and then you can live however you want to live. Then there are all kinds of different Christians who believe all kinds of different things.

So what is the right way to live? Is there one set of beliefs that is right within Christianity? I mean we have dozens of different denominations. Each denomination has a variety of beliefs held within each church. Some will focus on reaching the poor, some focus on the KJV being the most important Bible version, some say to work on discipling others, and some focus on evangelism and reaching the most amount of people they can, some are geared towards serving its members, while others serve those outside the church walls.

The Reason for God by Tim Keller talks about people who do not believe in Christianity because Christianity is narrow and non-inclusive and that Christians push their beliefs on others and that is not right. Tim Keller refutes that by saying that those people are doing the exact same thing. By saying that they don’t believe Christians should promote their faith, they are promoting their own beliefs (of not being pushy) and pushing them on others. He makes a great argument and I would highly recommend his book to read it all. But the reason I bring his argument up is that I think that this happens within Christianity as well. We argue our own position often and try to get others to do the same. I find that I am personally greatly influenced by what I have read recently. For example, I just read a book on loving others, hating war and injustice, and feeding the poor (amongst other things) and it really affected me to the point of changing some of my thoughts and actions. And I could agree so much that I buy more books on the topic and get more involved in those aspects of Christianity. Does that mean that I have found the right way to live as a Christian? But what if I read another influential book on the Spiritual Disciplines and how I should live as a Christian and I started getting into those? Would that be the right path to take considering the author shows great proof from the Bible on why I should do those things? I could go on and on with more topics, but what is the right one to focus on?

And that is where I think that we need to have a balance in our Christian life. Maybe I am speaking for myself, but my tendency generally is to read something and be greatly pulled by it to the point where it starts to take over my life. But if I read something and add it to my tool belt, I think that is where I am going to be more effective. I think that too often within Christianity, we focus on one part and that leads to self-righteousness and judgment of others. For example, within a lot of churches I have been in, I see people who are faithful to church, always dressed nicely, always volunteering, and always with an attitude that they are the troopers in the trenches for God. They then look down on those who are not as involved in church and assume that they are not as spiritual. But on the other hand I have seen those who believe that the church is broken and needs to be fixed and that they are more righteous for being outside of the church, with a right relationship with God, than in the wicked church that is full of hypocrites. I think that we need to be careful not too focus on one aspect of Christianity and look down on others who focus on another part.

Recently I read an email in which someone mentioned not pushing God’s Word down people’s throats, assuming that is what I was doing. I know what that person means, but I really do not think that is what I am doing. I am here to teach the Bible though. That person says that we need to follow Jesus’ example of loving the poor and living with them and fighting injustice because Jesus did that. I agree that should be a part of our ministry, and since I have read that book, I have tried to make it more of a part. But Jesus’ primary ministry was teaching. Look at the gospels and see how much he taught in there. He met people’s needs through miracles and a couple of times providing food for the multitudes, but His primary job was teaching.

I think that God has equipped many different people with many different passions in life. Passages that talk about our spiritual gifts show how we are all one body with different parts to it. We need people who will serve as hands and feet, administrate, teach, lead as Pastors, feed the poor, encourage others, be hospitable, visit the hospital, pray constantly, counsel others, and so many more things. We need to recognize our gift, even focus on it, but also not be afraid to work on other areas as well. And most of all, we should not think of ourselves (and our gifts) more highly than we ought to.

Grace

2009-05-06T08:21:00.001-04:00

Recently I heard the news of another person in ministry who had fallen into adultery. This was the second time this year that I heard of someone I knew personally that had done this. In both cases though, the church has responded with such amazing grace. In the past with these situations, I just hear of rejection by the church, but now I think that the church is starting to give the proper response.
But the real reason for this post is my response. I am almost jealous. This person said to me recently, "those churches do not really understand what true grace is," which struck me profoundly when it was said, even before I knew of the adultery situation. This person explained the grace given to her after her sin through their spouse, church, and colleagues. They better understood God's grace and I do not believe that I have ever experienced that much grace in my life. So as Paul said in Romans 6, "Do I sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!"
So what it comes down to, I believe, is understanding God's grace in allowing us not to fall into sin. And also an understanding of the sin that we do commit. A good reading of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) should cure that when we learn that hate is like murder and lust like adultery. I have no reason in the world to even think of myself as more morally righteous than this friend of mine or anyone else for that matter. Paul said in Romans chapter two that if we think that we can judge others sins it is like we are judging ourselves, because we are just as guilty of them. So I must understand my humanity, as well as God's grace in sustaining me from being the horrible sinner that I have the capability of being.

Preparing for the best

2009-05-04T09:04:00.002-04:00

So last week we had salmon and shrimp during the week and also bought walnuts. Why? Omega 3. Apparently Omega 3 helps develop the brain in the baby and is especially good during the third trimester. So as an investment in the future, I plan on getting a lot of salmon and walnuts. We also need to play Mozart. Why? Maybe a nice scholarship to college is in the future if we buy it. Also, less time needed in help with homework.
But what if you know this stuff and just do not do it? Are you saying that you want your kid to be dumb or does it just show your apathy? I know that I do not want to destine my child for failure, but does not buying those things really reveal that?
ok, so I am kind of joking about meaning to get your kid to fail. I know that no one actually means to do that.

The Irresistible Revolution

2009-04-27T09:13:00.002-04:00

I just finished reading this book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an ordinary radical, by Shane Claiborne. It was a very interesting and challenging book. I would recommend it to everyone. As with any book, there are plenty of things that I do not agree with in the book, but overall I think that it stretched me in my faith and has caused me to know more about the heart of God. We all grow up with one point of view usually, which means that there are thousands of "philosophies of lives" out there and who are we to think that ours is the one that everyone needs to have. So seeing other people's radical lives is good to see and at times, mimic. Or at least add to what you believe or how you believe. This book taught me to love more, give more, and to need less. I have had a tendency to blame people for where they are at financially, which is probably not a good thing to do. I need to be careful about how I judge others. I am sure that over 90% (probably 99%) of the world grew up in a situation financially less comfortable than I did. I have been so blessed. People have lived on so much less that I have lived on and so it would not hurt me too bad to have less clothes, food, etc... Shane talks about the possibility of knocking out poverty in the world if we just shared our resources more. And he is right. And I have not played my part in that and so I am going to start to do so more.
Shane is also a war protester. I have never really thought any different about war than that we need it. We were attacked and now we are defending ourselves. Shane did bring new information to the table though for me as he went over there and visited. He talks about showing love rather than hate as a means to end war. I am still struggling with this in my mind as I know that it would be ideal, but is it reality? Not sure. Either way, I do not like conflict and so a war-less world would be great. I think that we would all agree on that. It is just a matter of it being possible. I just see so much effects from sin in the world to see a world that would not have someone who would want to be Napoleon or Hitler, who would just want to conquer the world. And how would you stop those personalities without war? Not sure.
I need to love more as well. It is tough living in Brazil with so much poverty around me. I really do not want to give out money that much as I am not sure what it will be used for. I would rather give out food and clothes. I am excited about being able to do this more and am wondering what my clothes drawer will look like in a few months.

I can't do it

2009-04-22T16:38:00.003-04:00

I cannot live this Christian life. It is too hard on my own. I get so frustrated with what I feel that I need to do and I just want to revolutionize the world for God, but I can't. I have been trying to do everything for God and save people for him and bring them closer to Him, but I haven't been able to. In the past, I have discipled several people in growing closer to God, but it has turned out that they were never really saved in the first place. That is right. I discipled one young man and the following summer he realized that he was never saved and accepted Christ at camp. I discipled another guy who was looking to be in the ministry. It has been a year since I worked closely with him and a couple of weeks ago he sucked up his pride and asked God to call the shots as Savior and Lord in his life. I married my wife who realized a year ago that she was not saved. After a year of being married, I never had the insight to see that she had never truly given her life to God. I thought I had this Christian life figured out. But then God just keeps sending surprises my way.
Lately I have been reading some interesting books deciding a little more about Christianity. So after reading I try to apply what I have read. I guess that I am looking for a sure way to be a Super Christian. I figured out that I just can't do this on my own cause really I just mess things up. So now I guess that I am just going to have to let God do all the work. Yeah, I will be available to be used by Him, but I really need to stop trying to save people on my own, cause it really has not gotten me anywhere. I suppose that is why Paul writes about dying daily to self and allowing God to do the transforming. And I guess that is why the Bible is full of mess ups that God used despite their blatantly obvious mistakes. There is no one who has it together. Those closest to God's will are the ones that are continually clinging to God's grace not relying on their selves, but understanding that it is God who works through us for His good pleasure.

Book ideas

2009-04-14T10:20:00.000-04:00

I always have ideas for another book. Some of them are as follows (now don't be stealing these all you authors out there):

Missions: Changing the way the church does Mission work

Christian=Disciples: If you are saved, does that make you a disciple or is it separate? If only disciples were believers, how would that revolutionize the Christian world?

A fiction book on the steps a missionary takes in arriving on the field.

Balance in the Christian life: There are so many books out there on secrets to the best prayer life, devotional life, going radical for Christ, but what about learning to just maintain a balance rather than getting burnt out.

Video idea

2009-04-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

So I thought of a video idea a while ago and when I told Sarah her eyes kind of just rolled. She is not too into video ideas as I am. But I thought that I would write a little here about it and actually I think that I am going to start recording more ideas on this blog to see what people think.
So we did a day in the life of video that was pretty fun to do. I think most people liked it too and it gave a good idea of what we are up to here in South Brazil. So I want to do another one when we get to the Amazon. Only this time I want to use a bunch of movie quotes. So I will try to collect a bunch of lines from movies to put into the script of the Day in the Life video. But I won't say what movie they are from. I will just have as many as I can put into it. Then I will post the video and have a competition. Whoever sends me the most exhaustive list of quotes, who said them in what movie, will win a prize to be given on furlough, or at some point.
What do you guys think? Good idea/bad idea?

Our Vacation

2009-04-01T07:25:00.001-04:00

So yesterday we were talking in class about vacations and our professor who is also our Pastor, a Brazilian missionary, said that there are some things that only millionaires or missionaries do. haha. Well, that was true on our vacation. We had a great time on a beautiful island that can be compared to Hawaii. Florianopolis is located about 6 hours from us and is an island just off the coast. It has 42 separate beaches (that are divided by mountains and rocks).

We were able to visit several of those beaches including a practically deserted one that was surrounded by a nature reserve. The waves were incredible and I played in them like a little boy. It was great. I have never seen such big waves. I even built a sand castle to watch it be destroyed by the waves. I know, I am childish and weird, but I had fun. haha

The house we stayed at was incredible as well. It had several bedrooms, an entertainment family room, a pool with several chairs around it for laying out as well as some hammocks. It really looked like a resort. Vinicius, our friend that we met on the plane when we arrived in Brazil in September, is the owner of the house and invited us to stay with him. (If you ever want an amazing place to rent on vacation in Brazil, let him know cause he rents it out during the summer months in Brazil). He was a very gracious host as he showed us around the island, all the secret spots and the popular spots. We were amazed by God's handiwork as well as His graciousness in providing an incredibly relaxing vacation, a very cheap vacation (I don't really like to pay much for vacations, and we just had to pay for gas and food), and also a chance to practice our Portuguese in a non-pressure time.

Another Crazy Idea

2009-03-30T10:16:00.002-04:00

So I get all kinds of crazy ideas in my head and this idea keeps coming back to me often. It has to do with supporting missionaries. So many missionaries are under-supported (not us, Praise the Lord). The average for a missionary to raise support is around 4 years. That is a lot of time. So what is a way that we could raise more money for missionaries; or use the money we have wisely?
What if we supported missionaries the way some of us plan to support ourselves, or our kids going to college, or retirement? With real estate. I have written out a big dream plan using millions of dollars, but let's say that we start out small. One church or a couple churches could buy a foreclosed house or condominium. For a mission trip, church members could go to this house (that is actually in their area) and fix it up. The electricians, plumbers, real estate agents, painters, landlords etc... could all use their gifts and talents to fix up a house and to manage it while renting it out. The money received from renting could go towards supporting missions. So here is what the financial investment looks like: 50-60,000 to buy the home; 5-10,000 for materials to fix it up; free manual labor from church members; the return would be around 700 dollars a month (depending on the real estate prices in the area), so $8400 a year. Well before 10 years, the church would already have reached their initial investment, plus have that real estate value still. The church could have the option to sell the real estate at any time and possibly buy two pieces of property with what they make and do it again.
Churches could also go in on it together. For example, I have several supporting churches in certain towns that could get together and do mission trips together fixing up these houses.
So, I have told this idea to a few people and most of them think it too risky. What are some of you all's initial thoughts?

Crossing Cultures

2009-03-18T14:59:00.003-04:00

Since day one here I have known that there would be some interesting situations in ministering cross culturally. I with that it just touched my culture to Brazilian culture, but it even goes further than that. I have seen also that it is difficult to reach different cultures of Brazil at the same time. Right now, the missionary house that we live in is in a condominium development where the upper class lives. We have an electric fence around us for safety and a guard at the only entrance and exit. We are very safe inside from the crime ridden neighborhood all too close by outside. There is a vila (or favela, which is a poor neighborhood) that is close by. Vilas are dangerous places to be.
I play soccer with kids from the vila every Sunday. I look forward to it and really enjoy it. I am also friends with a lot of them. If I see them on the street, they say, "eh Americano" and we give each other the thumbs up. Then I have fun with them on the soccer field.
I am also friends with a bunch of our neighbors. I talk to them every once in a while, have eaten with them, played soccer with them at their club, and even visited with them at their relative's house. It has been neat getting to know them and even try to reach them.
But where the culture difference lies is between the both. Those in my neighborhood don't want me to let my friends from the vila inside the gates. They don't trust them at all. So how do you minister to them in a way that is humble, even though they are basically prohibited from coming in your house? (A couple of them came in once, but I heard that was a bad idea from my neighbors). It is an interesting situation because I want to minister to both of them, but if I do too much, one will not allow me to minister to the other. I know Jesus ministered to both and that is what is right, but must I first revise the entire Brazilian culture of social levels?

Giving your all

2009-03-03T14:55:00.000-05:00

I am doing a devo soon on this and would like any extra thoughts, ideas or additions.

Throughout high school, college, and afterwards I have always listed out my priorities in life. I always start with God at number one. For good reason right? In Scripture we are told to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Deuteronomy 6:5.

So He is #1 priority and then comes a list of family, church, work, sports, extra-curricular activities, etc… or at least that is how my list has always been. I think our motives are usually right in creating these lists, but I think something goes wrong in our thinking, well, at least my thinking. I put God first when it comes to time. In the morning, I get up and give the first part of my day to God in quiet time. But what happens after that? Or some of us will say if God is our # 1 priority, then we will give God the majority of our time. So we do our quiet times, prepare our sermons or lessons, do discipleship or training or sports evangelistic outreach. Especially as missionaries we need to put in our time for God because He is our # 1 priority. Then with finances we do the same thing. We give our first 10% to God, at least. Some may be grace givers and give more, say the 20 some percent that the Israelites gave once they totaled in all their offerings. Maybe we even give a majority of our money to show God is at #1 in our life.

Ok, so why am I talking about these priorities. If we give God 50% of our time, or 50% of our money, who does the rest belong to? Us, right. We can do with it as we please. Now of course that is not the case because it all belongs to God! We learned that in Sunday school. We did learn that, but how often do we use how much we are doing as an excuse for what else we are doing. For example, I was doing church activities all day, now it is me time. I can do what I want, etc…

In my youth group we once did a drama where Jesus came to someone’s house. The actress answered the door and said, oh hello Jesus, I was not expecting you, went and cleared the magazines off the end table, and returned and invited Him in. She told Him what rooms He was welcome in and what rooms she held the keys to. Too often we want to keep part of the house to ourselves and not allow God to have it. I think we make the excuse that we have given God a majority already, especially as missionaries. We have given God our lives to live in this foreign country, but have exempted ourselves from giving God our lives as we live on the field.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 says that we are not our own; we are bought with a price and are to glorify God in our body and our spirit, which are His.

The Reason for God

2009-02-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

I just closed the books on yet another excellent book. "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller discusses reasons people have for not believing in the God of the Bible. Then he also gives reasons for believing in God. It is so easy to make excuses for not believing in God. We hear so many growing up, like that science disproves the Bible. Others look at apparent contradictions in the Bible as reasons not to believe. But really, if someone does not WANT to believe, they are not going to without God's sovereign drawing. Everyone has an excuse, yet Romans says that everyone is without excuse.

We also have our own presuppositions for who God is that we receive from our culture, our home, our surroundings and our experiences. I know that with certain doctrines in the Bible I did not want to believe a certain way because I did not grow up that way so how could I believe that way. We need to weigh our presuppositions with the Bible and ask God for wisdom and understanding as we search for His truth.

OK, that post might have been a little broad or did not provide enough info about the book, so I am going to just suggest to all to go out and read it.

Strawberry Milkshake

2009-02-15T13:17:00.003-05:00

Well, now that Sarah is pregnant, I will probably write a lot about the new baby or something related to it. Last night we were going to bed and Sarah took a vitamin and then said, that tastes like a Strawberry Shake, I would like a Strawberry shake. So we proceeded to go downstairs to make one. Since their were no strawberries, she used a banana, and since we don't have a blender here, I crushed ice with a meat pounder in plastic grocery bags. It didn't turn out like she had wanted it to. Oh well, what can you do?
Her eating habits have definitely changed as well as some other things. I guess this is going to be an interesting seven more months. Any advice for a new husband of a pregnant woman?

The fam again

2009-01-26T13:32:00.002-05:00

The other day I went to see my Grandpa. He has recently had some health troubles and they really are not sure how long he is going to live. He has always been a hard worker. He has the biggest backyard wood pile I have ever seen. Since being sick he has not been able to bring the wood in for their wood furnace. So five of us brothers went over there and brought wood into the house. It was quite a bit of fun and it was really special to see my Grandpa soak it all in. I have never seen him with a camera before and he used it quite a bit. He was constantly laughing at our fighting in the snow and mishaps while working. At the end he pulled the truck back and watched our snowball fight with much pleasure. I had never seen him that way before and after-wards with a little tear in his eye, he told us how it was a very special day and that he would always have good memories of the day.
I love that country song about living like you are dying. Obviously, we still need to work and everything, but when it comes to spending time with family and friends, it may do us all good to spend that time living like we were dying, because according to the latest statistics, 100% of people die.

Foolishness

2009-01-07T07:45:00.000-05:00

So I think that I get myself wrapped up in a bunch of foolishness. Maybe that is not the right word, but that is how I feel. I have been doing video blog type deals for the last few months and sometimes I just do not know if they amount to anything. Lots of times I feel like I am being too preachy and am unsure of their effectiveness. I think that I look like an idiot and do not know how to talk.
So why do I keep doing them? I keep trying to talk myself out of doing these, but I keep thinking that it is worth it if the videos affect one person in their walk with God. If one person makes one minor positive decision towards their relationship with God, than it is worth it (so long as I am not turning anyone away from Christ). I figure that if people do not like them, they do not have to watch them. And I am sure that has started to happen, but maybe there are people who have decided that they are not too cool to watch them. Who knows. And so I continue. My latest project is a chronological walk through the Bible. After doing the first of forty lessons, I am realizing that this will take a lot of time and will not be easy. Yet, I believe that I will continue. After all, God makes good use of foolishness.

Family

2008-12-27T11:29:00.002-05:00

Last night we had our family Christmas for my side of the family. All my siblings were there and I was able to attend on skype. It was a very interesting experience, but I would have rather been there in person. I have the coolest family in the world. Every sibling is different and brings a whole new dynamic to a get-together. I wanted to add to the fun, but my jokes are usually pretty bad, and online on a phone, they are even worse. Oh well.
I experienced a first too in that they opened our presents for us in front of the camera. That was pretty interesting, although it was kind of hard because we cannot remember everything we received. We will actually get them next month when we are home for Sarah's sister's wedding. It was also interesting with giving presents as we had other people buy for us. My brother Dan did a great job and got everyone great stuff.
Moral of the story: Don't take being with your family for granted, even if it is a family reunion and everyone gets on your nerves.

The Perfect Person

2008-12-12T07:46:00.003-05:00

I wonder what the perfect person would be like. Our thoughts on this topic show much about our lives. As I make this list of my perfect person, you will be able to see quite a bit into what makes me frustrated, what makes me happy, and why I click the way I do. For example, you will see dependability on my list. Why? Because I can't stand undependable people and so I try to be dependable.
The perfect person...

Loves all and condemns no one
Tries their hardest to have a non-biased view of the Bible, taking it for what it was meant to be
Follows the golden rule
Is kind to all
Patient, gentle, joyful (not a Debby-downer), merciful, considerate
Respects other opinions, but not afraid to share his when asked
Honest, even when it is hard or not convenient
Has good communication (prompt in their response)
Does not judge others by appearance
Dependable and reliable
Responsible
Frugal
Wise
Hard working
Tells others what they truly believe, rather than sugar coating everything (in other words, if there is something wrong with me, I would appreciate you telling me so that I can look into the mirror of God's Word and see if I need fixing)

So this list is more for me because I want to strive to be this person. (Because I want others to follow this list, I should follow the Golden Rule and try to be like this list). You may have to read that last sentence a couple of times for it to make sense. But basically I am striving to be perfect, although a knowledge of one's own imperfections should be added to the list as well. And I must include that we will never actually be perfect.
So what else can I add to that list, or what would your list include?

Dreams

2008-12-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

So I have heard quite a bit over my life about chasing my dreams. This past year I read a book called the Dream Giver that talked about following our dreams. But it talked about having one dream and I wondered what happens if you have multiple dreams. Many people, including me, would say that my dream has been to be a missionary in Brazil and that is what I am doing. But what about other thoughts that come into my head. Do I pursue them all? I think that I know my answer, but I just want to hear what others will say.

Running

2008-12-02T12:40:00.002-05:00

So Sarah has got me running consistently now. Really it is her who is the consistent one. This past Saturday she went out without me and didn't come back at the normal time. I went out to check on her and she was finishing her 9th lap, which was 5 miles! I was astounded, especially since we started with 2 laps just two months ago and she already quadrupled that. So yesterday I ran the 5 miles with her. I was thinking about it and I have always wanted to run a marathon and so I might try to soon since I am running with Sarah anyway.
Speaking of things that I have always wanted to do: My good friend Nathan made a list of things he wanted to do and put it on his blog. So I am going to put a list here of possible things that I would like to accomplish at some point:
-Run a marathon
-Flip a house
-Publish a book
-Have a good enough marriage to be able to speak on the topic
-Have kids
-Earn an honorary doctorate (that is a joke)
-I think that I would like to Pastor a church at some point if God would like
-Be involved in making a movie (I say make cause it would probably be unprofessional, but I would like to be involved in one).
-hit a home run in softball (it might just have to be an in the parker)
-be fluent in several languages

ok, well that is all for now. It ended up being less serious than I thought because I couldn't think of much to write.

Church

2008-11-05T08:14:00.003-05:00

You know, I think that there will be a lot of surprises in heaven. One will be who all is there. On prefield ministry we traveled to all different types of churches and with our many other travels, we have seen all kinds of different churches. Even down here in Brasil, the churches are different. I think that we can have church in all different kinds of ways and still get the main point of worshiping God.
But I think that God had a great purpose in creating the church. He did not just create it cause it sounded like a good idea. He desires that we first of all glorify God. We do that so much in the church. But we also do that by following the idea of church in having fellowship with other believers. That fellowship glorifies His Name. One purpose of the church is to heal us when we are broken. We encourage others through difficult times in the church, and then when we go through hard times, we may be encouraged as well. I know people who leave the church when going through hard times personally, but that is the time where in the church they should be encouraged and be rallied around.
There is a lot to say about serving in the church as well. JFK's quote about the country is just as applicable with the church, "It is not what your church can do for you, it is what you can do for your church." We should all be servants in our local church!

Spelling

2008-10-27T18:06:00.002-04:00

So since I have arrived in Brazil, I have become aware of two different things with spelling. First, I am bad at spelling Portuguese because I don't use the accents right. Secondly, my English spelling is in quick deterioration. I am quite nervous about this as I think spelling has a lot to do with how someone is perceived. I am very grateful for spell check that works on this blog, gmail, word-of course, but am nervous about the other places where I don't have that luxury as well as misspelling my there's, here's, and other words that have different spellings and meanings.
Oh well, at least I am aware of it. I will probably start sending the update email to my mom in the US to edit it before I send it out. But for now, I will just keep trying my best.

Almost a bad day

2008-10-22T07:55:00.002-04:00

Well, we almost had a bad day yesterday, but it was really good. We started out early to get to town in order to register for our CPF's, the Brazilian social security number. As we got out of the taxi, I could not find my wallet. I turned around and the taxi driver had hesitated pulling away, but I caught his attention as he started driving. Sure enough, my wallet was in the back seat. Close call.
Yesterday evening, we had one of our language school teachers, Fabi, over for dinner. Sarah and Fabi left after their classes were over while I finished up my class. Sarah had a couple bus numbers in mind to ride home, but they were both wrong. So when they got on 614 she started to have problems. First, she had a 20 real bill, (equivalent to 10 dollars) and the guy on the bus did not have change and so would not accept it. So Fabi had to pay for the ride. Then, the bus turned before Sarah thought it should have. So they were freaking out inside the bus because they did not know what to do. It turned out ok though cause the bus still went pretty close to the house. So they made it home safely.
Then they were cooking dinner and the gas stove was turning on, but not lighting and they could smell gas. Sarah turned on the top of the stove and all the gas lit up. Sarah said she could feel the fire all around her and both Fabi and Sarah screamed, but it was over quickly.
We had also been having some problems with our gas heater. I couldn't get it to work. Well, Jon Trott, another missionary came over and looked at it and said, "oh did you know it was turned to off?" And then it worked and I felt retarded. But at least the gas is working now.
But it was a great day because we got our CPF's, had a great lunch downtown, had a good day in class where one teacher told me how good Sarah is doing, and had fun having Fabi over.

Soccer

2008-10-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

The days leading up to our departure from the states I was very excited about playing soccer in Brasil. At last I could play soccer just about every day I am here and make great contacts with people and get good exercise consistently. But then I didn't play soccer for two weeks. People don't play that often here in south Brasil. But finally I played last Sunday and this Sunday. I walked over to the park where I only seen games being played on Sunday afternoons. A group of younger players let me play on their team and I had fun. Then yesterday I played again. Once all the older players left, we were able to play for about an hour straight. I had a lot of fun and even played alright. I am hoping that I can be a positive influence in the lives of these kids. It is neat to see how that being a foreigner you have so many more opportunities to talk. They have asked me all kinds of questions and I have been able to ask them some. I am hoping to get into more serious subjects at times. We will see.

Burglars

2008-10-11T11:20:00.002-04:00

Yes, that is a very scary word, especially when you are in a different country. I mean, they don't even have 911 down here, so what would you do if someone were in your house in the middle of the night? Well, last Friday night, at 2:30 in the morning, I was asking that same question. You see, it sounded like there was someone walking on the top floor of our house. We live in a condominium, meaning that our house is connected to another house. The other house is under construction right now, which means we get woke up often from pounding and stuff. Well, this night I did not really consider anyone to be working and so I figured they must be in our house. So I got up, turned the light on in the bathroom, and used it so they might be scared and go away. They didn't. I could have sworn that I heard them walking and even pulling on drawers downstairs.
So I went out to the hallway and turned on a light and stood there for a while making a few noises to let the burglar know I was there. I also figured out what I would use for a weapon; the iron, or a big piece of glass from a broken picture frame. After a while I closed the door and laid in bed for a while. I think I finally fell back asleep by 5:30. As soon as it was light out, I walked around the house and saw that nothing was gone. I had in fact imagined the whole burglary. We live in a condominium with an electric fence around us, as well as a gate with a security guard. So I think that I will just try to ignore those noises next time. But I still have something in our room just in case the burglar does come.

And the eggs made it home.

2008-10-09T17:56:00.002-04:00

Today we needed some groceries. Today we rode the bus to and from school. Today the bus was really crowded. Today we did not get to sit down. Today we had eight bags of groceries on the bus ride home. Today we made it home safely with no broken eggs, bruised fruit, spilt milk.
And we just laughed...

Churrasco!!

2008-10-09T17:42:00.002-04:00

Whoa, if I tell you about churrasco down here, you may start raising your support for South Brasil. The day after we arrived, another missionary treated us to churrasco in his home. Some American cities have Brazilian churrascarias in which plates cost up to 50 dollars for this steak buffet. Gauchos have perfected this grilling over coals of sausage and steak and we are now tasting their years of experience. To top it all off, meat is much cheaper down here and so churrascos are much more feasible.
A churrasco pit sits in our laundry room awaiting these delicious meals, that is, as soon as I can figure it out. My first experience of being head chef for churrasco happened on Tuesday. We rushed home and I tried to start the coals. First mistake: no lighter fluid. Every time Sarah walked in to check how I was doing, my head was surrounded by smoke as I looked down into the flameless pit. I said, well, if we were smoking this meat, we could do it here. Second mistake: I didn't have enough coals or arrange them correctly. Once I piled them up better, dumped some cleaning alcohol on it, and gave it time, it started to heat up. Which by that time, I had told Sarah to fix something else. So we had steak over the stove, rice and gravy. Turned out good. We did keep one piece of meat though. In churrascos, you are supposed to use fat salt, or ocean salt, and put it on the meat, and then at some point knock it off. I never got to that point. So the meat was really salty. Third mistake: we had brought the wrong meat anyway. We bought the meat before we received advice from anyone. The same night I facebooked a Brazilian who gave us some advice and invited them over to show me the Brazilian way of doing it. I am looking forward to that day. But for now I have a story I have been able to tell people.
And we just laugh...

Gotta love potting soil

2008-10-09T17:34:00.002-04:00

So Sarah has started decorating our patio with flowers and it looks great! We bought flowers last week, but needed potting soil. So we went to BIG, the Brazilian version of Walmart, here in Porto Alegre. Since the potting soil and other items were a little heavy to walk and take a bus, we decided to take our fist taxi ride here (I say it like it is a roller coaster or something fun like that, it's not). I mean, it wasn't too bad, it is just that I forgot our address. I knew how to get home, so I thought we would be fine. Well, the taxi driver obviously took advantage of my being naive. He took us the opposite way in a big circle. I was a little disappointed, especially since it cost more money, and if you know my frugal self, you know I hate spending money. Anyway, we finally made it home and brought the potting soil to the back. As I set the bag down, I noticed the exact same bag of potting soil under our churrasco pit!
And we laughed...

Sermon on the Mount

2008-10-06T09:27:00.002-04:00

So I was really excited yesterday to have an English Bible study here in Brazil for Sunday school. There is a couple from Texas working for John Deere, a couple from New Zealand working as an international school teacher, and a couple other Americans. Jon, an ABWE missionary, led the Bible study and is doing a series on Matthew 5-7. He gave us a printout that had a chart on it. The Beatitudes each had some characteristics to it and if you go down the list, it could be compared to leading someone to salvation. I had never seen that before. Poor in spirit represents moral failure explaining that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Then mourning represents repentance showing that we are understand our guilt and then desire to turn from sin. Gentleness or meekness shows humility and an attitude of willingness to learn God's principles in life.
After salvation, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness and a relentless pursuit of God's righteous standards (even though we can never meet them). The rest are godly characteristics like mercy, love, others motivated, peacemaker or reconciler, and then mentions those who will be persecuted.
I had never seen the Beatitudes in that way before and it was really neat for me.

Anger

2008-09-28T17:35:00.000-04:00

What is accomplished in anger outbursts? I have struggled with a bad temper since I was young. I believe that it is getting better, but I know that I still have my spurts. I was in the airport yesterday in Atlanta and watched a mad chew an airport worker out about another worker standing by. He called the lady a witch as she walked away and then proceeded to rip his tag off his luggage, throw it on the ground, and walk off. Whenever I witness blow ups, I feel like I witness immaturity. Am I wrong? Are there times to blow up? I know Jesus blew up in the temple one day with righteous anger over people using the temple of God wrongly. People may take advantage of you if you never blow up, but it seems that much more gets done with a soft answer that turns away wrath.

Last evening thoughts

2008-09-24T22:44:00.002-04:00

Well, tomorrow Sarah and I leave for Brazil. I have had many random thoughts, mixed emotions, busy days, and great conversations these last few days. I have had fun convincing people that we are not dying, just leaving the country for a few years. No, it has not been that bad. I have not cried as much as I thought I would. Maybe it is because I am so excited, or cause I am trying to be strong for Sarah, or it could be the result of being cold-hearted, haha. Well, hopefully not that last one. There are several things that I think of that make me cry on the spot. For some reason, whenever we pray as a group I start to tear up. Tonight we said goodbye to Emma and Luke, our neice and nephew. That was hard for me because I am not going to see them grow up. I love playing with them and they seem to enjoy it too and I cannot bear the thought of them not knowing who we are in a couple years. The last thing that really makes me want to cry is how many people have been there for us, praying, supporting, giving much more than we deserve, and their overall love and care for us. We are undeserving of the many friends and family that we have that care so deeply for us. There are so many that would give us the shirt off their back and then thank me for the opportunity to give it. One cannot ask for better friends than that. So if you are one of those people, know that I am shedding tears here thinking about your love and being so grateful to God for you.

Interpreting the Bible

2008-09-17T15:56:00.002-04:00

I have come across so many different interpretations of the Bible lately that I thought I would write about it. I took a class on it in college called hermeneutics. I really enjoyed the class because I learned a lot about the practice of interpreting the Bible, but especially because the teacher told us plenty of examples of times where we use a verse to back up our argument when that is not what the verse means. I have heard that a lot in the Christian ranks.
We need to take a humble approach when studying and understanding the Bible. We all have presuppositions as a result of how we were brought up. And it is easy to say, well this is how I have always known it, so it must be true. We must humbly come to the Scriptures and study to see what passages are really saying. To understand what the author and God are trying to communicate, we must study the background, context, who they are writing to and why, the culture and customs, and also the language. Unfortunately, humans did the translation of the Bible and words change meanings as well.
One must also be careful where resources are found for interpretation. Scholars are humans too, and many disagree, soooo..... someone has to be wrong in their interpretation. That is why it takes much time in study before we become sure of a meaning, and then even still, unless it is a major proven doctrine, we must not be dogmatic about its meaning and label everyone else as liars.
Well, there are other thoughts on my mind for this post, but if it gets too long, I will lose the 3 people that visit my blog.

"Putting Christ back into Christian" article

2008-09-15T16:53:00.001-04:00

There is no doubt that the church today has declined in her commitment to Jesus Christ. Members do not show up regularly, Pastors are caught in scandals, and we are caught wondering where the lack of faithfulness is from. Although, there are many reasons for this, three have caught my attention. The first problem starts right at the root, and that is our doctrine of salvation. We have made salvation too easy in that we have handed out a prayer as though God gave out tickets to heaven for us to pass to all those around us. We have not thoroughly explained God’s plan for salvation, but instead have made the entrance exam a no-brainer for the lost. We encourage each other to make wise decisions not based on emotions, but when it comes to salvation, we have found that the easiest way to convert the lost is through the emotions and then wonder why we never see them at church. The second problem is a lack of discipling new believers. The last few decades we have had Sunday School for that, so what need is there for small group (2-4 people) discipling? The problem is not the available teaching, but the lack of ability to integrate discipleship and accountability. Once we utilize a better system for discipling we will not see the fallout rate we see now. Thirdly is an overall deficit of integrity in leadership which flows down to the followers. Between our Christian pride, materialism, bad influence, scarred testimonies, and no desire for personal holiness or understanding of the lost, we have not been effective in displaying Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. We need Believers who are on a mission to put Christ back into Christian!

Illogical beliefs dealing with the beginning of time

2008-09-08T14:17:00.004-04:00

So there is a debate that is highly illogical. The creationism versus evolutionism debate contains arguments that are not within the realms of logic. Creationism teaches that there is a God who created the world in six days using the power of His voice. He creates land and sea, animals, birds and fish and ends with creating man. He breathes into his nostrils the breath of life and man is given a living soul. It takes a lot of faith to believe that all could happen.
Evolution takes much faith too. First of all, there is nothing but some sort of mass and it explodes and there is a universe with a bunch of stars and earth. But there is no life for a long time until all of a sudden, lightning strikes a mud puddle and boom, life is formed. Millions of years pass by and we all of a sudden have hundreds of species of animals that evolved from the first living organism. One species cannot make another species according to science, yet that is how we have so many different animals. Anyway, I could go on and on, but I think the point is made that there is not much logic involved in this argument. Both evolution and creation take much faith. Personally, I believe in creationism, but I do understand that it takes much faith to believe in it.

Joy

2008-09-05T10:43:00.003-04:00

Man, I am a slacker sometimes. I let the smallest things rob me of my joy. Rejoice in the Lord always is a pretty clear verse, but one I struggle following. Our sufficiency should be in Christ, not in circumstances. I was bummed the other day when someone said; hey, you should smile back there. I do not know what my face looked like, but it must have been pretty ugly. Life is so much easier when we relax and have a good time and trust in the sovereignty of God.

Even if

2008-09-02T10:27:00.003-04:00

When Rack, Shack and Benny were asked by the king to bow down before his image, they refused. They said that they would not disobey God understanding that their consequence would be to go through the fiery furnace. They said that they knew God could deliver them, but EVEN IF not they would still obey God. Faith is trusting in God enough to obey His Word. Sometimes I wonder if I have faith, but really I need to look at my obedience level. Am I obeying God and trusting His Word? If I am, then I am showing faith. And if I am not, then I need to be like the Centurion in the gospels who said, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Our faith ultimately comes from God and we should never stop asking for it.

Putting Christ back into Christian

2008-08-18T16:56:00.002-04:00

So, in case you have been reading this blog and do not know it, my friend Jeremiah and I just wrote a book. We are really excited about it. Here is a little about the book and the link to look at the first few pages of it:
Although many people in the United States today claim to follow Christianity, most do not practice it. This book takes a look at the reasons why and the ways Christians can correct the problem. The authors peer into Christians' views of salvation and discipleship to uncover solutions to the unchristlike actions of Christianity's followers. The book is a quick read that will cause the reader to examine their own practice of Christianity.
http://www.lulu.com/content/3146802

Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God

2008-08-13T15:06:00.002-04:00

So I am reading this book right now by Larry Osborne. He really has me thinking so much about how I measure my own spirituality. Many times we have our own rituals we do that we think makes us spiritual. I have had the problem in the past of saying - reading the Bible + Prayer + Memorizing Scripture + Church = God's pleasure. As many times as I have said that these are helping me to know God better, is that the main goal. Or am I just doing all those for kudos bars in heaven?
My Pastor has been preaching on Worship the last couple of Sundays and I have really learned a lot from it. God wants our worship above our service. Our service and actions are just means by which we are worshipping God. So we must focus on worship above all else. "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him." -John Piper.

Holiness

2008-07-12T21:18:00.002-04:00

I just posted a comment on another blog regarding holy living. I almost felt guilty for posting it. Is it wrong for me to challenge others towards holy living? Of course, I know it is not, but why do I have that guilty feeling? Does our Christian culture promote beating around the bush when it comes to tackling spiritual topics? I would say that our generation opens up more and it is seeping into the church as well. I hope that we keep opening up because the Bible is clear about Christians being accountable to one another. The more we keep each other accountable in striving towards holiness, the better off we will be. So onwards we go in challenging each other towards godly living.

What do I do?

2008-05-12T12:50:00.002-04:00

People often ask me what I do during the day as a missionary. Well, the answer for that would vary a ton for each day pretty much. Prefield ministry consists of several requirements like reading, discipling, studying, reporting and more. Then in order to get meetings with churches, you must call, and call, and call. Don't ask me about how I liked that part. Then we travel and speak to churches, youth groups, camps, whoever we can get to listen (or at least pretend they are listening). I really enjoy meeting individually or in small groups with people for discipleship/mentoring. I really believe in the power of discipleship relationships and think that is a key ingredient missing in churches today.
I have also used this time to try to grow through reading and writing. I have read a bunch of books and am also listening to free Seminary classes online (www.biblicaltraining.org check it out!) I have listened to three classes so far and am working on a fourth. I have learned a lot through these classes. The books I have read have also sharpened me and given me many ideas for ministry. I have also written a lot. I started out with a document called "book" that has about three or four book ideas and thoughts in it. It is about 60 pages long. My current writing is in a book that I want to finish. It is about how we Christians do not have a good reputation, some of the reasons why, and then how we can change that. Right now I am at around 60 pages with a decent skeleton to work with. I hope that I can finish it soon and maybe email it to people or have it on a self publishing website where people can buy it individually, if they want it.

Field Prep Seminar

2008-04-29T11:50:00.000-04:00

So what did we learn at Field Prep?
We learned so much I forgot half of it by now. All the steps to leaving were included, including a checklist of things to do before we leave. We have started working on that. The first three days were focused on language acquisition. We learned phonetics and where all of our sounds come from. I was confused. Sarah did a lot better than me with that. So maybe she will catch up with me on learning Portuguese. We will see. On the second day, the whole afternoon Sarah and I spent with a tutor for German to show one way of learning a language. I never thought that I could ever learn German, but after a couple of hours I could recognize specific sentences and then even say some sentences. The exercise was very encouraging for us as we saw that we had the ability to learn.
After LANCE we started covering all kinds of topics. We learned about cultural differences, security issues, doctrine of hell, spiritual warfare, how to do group decision making work (if you are in a company that has bad meetings and want to invest in how to make meetings productive, I can recommend someone to you). Intermissionary conflict is a big reason for leaving the field and so we concentrated on how to avoid and/or work around problems. We ended with chronological Bible teaching taught by Mark Zook, who made the video Eetao. Mark went into a tribe in Papua New Guinea, studied the language and culture for 2 ½ years and then started teaching the Bible starting from Genesis 1:1. At the end of three months, he arrived at the crucifixion and resurrection. At that time he presented the gospel and almost the entire tribe was saved. Mark challenged us regarding the use of chronological Bible training to fight syncretism as well as form a true Biblical worldview. Amazing stuff. If you would like some resources on that, just let me know and I can talk to you about it. It is designed to teach someone what the story of the Bible and to be evangelistical, but I think it is just as good for those raised in church and who are already saved.

Complaining Americans

2008-03-20T09:36:00.004-04:00

So I don't like forwards generally, but I thought that the U.S. needs to hear this:

Very interesting perspective by Jay Leno...I hope you will all read to the end. Jay Leno puts it into perspective and makes us think about the pathetic negativity. That's right, Jay Leno!! Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.
So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services t o help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here. I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11?

The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it...are yo u upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, a nd when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J.. Simpson to write a book about 'how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way'...Insane!Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media.

Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day or at least be thankful and appreciative.'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' Jay Leno2007

Fruit of the Spirit

2008-03-09T16:09:00.002-04:00

The fruit of the Spirit are the results of living a Spirit-filled life. If you wonder if you are walking in the Spirit, look at the fruit of the Spirit and see how they compare to your life. If God is controlling us by His Spirit, then they will be evident in our lives. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
I wonder if someone were to say, "what are some characteristics of David Carrel," what the answer would be? If it would be the above couple of verses, I think that would make me pretty happy. But that is up to me and my life and how I allow Christ to live through me. And it is up to you for your life too.

The Domino Effect

2008-02-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

We live in a culture that has not been following the golden rule. Instead, we do unto others as they have recently done unto me. One rude comment or action turns our hearts toward revenge against anyone and everybody. We are rude to whoever is near us for no good reason. Why not take some initiative today and reverse the negative domino effect that rudeness is playing in our society. Start showing kindness through good deeds today and see if our culture cannot change with just the start of one person. You!

Smoking and littering

2007-12-06T18:48:00.000-05:00

So I have been wondering something for a while. Why is smoking not considered littering? I guess that I have wondered this since I did some community clean up work with the school. When we went out and picked up trash, a lot of it was cigarette butts. And those things are nasty. Who knows where they have been. But we know where they are. All over the streets, sidewalks, entrances, etc... They post signs on the freeway for littering, but no one ever gets fined for flicking a butt out the window. I do not like it when I am driving down the freeway and a cigarette comes flying out of the window in front of me. It may be because I am always nervous the ashes will jump up and hit my gas tank. Forgive my weird paranoia, but that really does go through my head.
Everyone knows that smoking is not healthy for you. That is why the government raised the cigarette tax. They want to get rid of smoking because it costs the country billions in health care each year (no source on that, may be an exaggeration, I am not sure, either way it is close). So why not start fining smokers every time they litter too?

Entertainment

2007-11-22T14:32:00.001-05:00

The television has changed the culture so much. When I was growing up, I didn’t have a TV until later in elementary school. It took a little while. But our family would go outside and play. I grew up playing kick the can and tag and outdoor games like that. Then my brothers and I always played different sports outside. Instead of watching the TV or playing video games, we would play basketball, baseball, hockey, football, and soccer. We had a ping-pong table and pool table as well. The TV is a cause for a lack of an attention span in children. This is a cause of ADHD that the world rants and raves about.
There are many interesting movies out there to watch. Lots of my friends are all up to date on their movies. They spend their time and money making sure that they do not miss any of the best movies. Now, I do not have anything against these movies. But I think it says much about our society and the importance of entertainment. Instead of it being something to do on the side, it has turned into something that consumes us. The amount of time spent learning and reading has been transferred to the amount of time we spend on entertainment. We no longer seek knowledge, but rather struggle to not drown in the ocean of entertainment. I am often clueless in conversations about movies because I have not spent the time watching these movies. While movies can educate quite a bit and do have positives to them, I do question the overall help of them to society.
No longer are Christians actively seeking wholesome entertainment that will grow them in the Lord. There is pressure on the entertainment industry to produce movies that exploit all the problems that the Bible teaches against. The reason there is pressure is because that is what people watch and so if they want to make any money, filthy movies is what they must produce. Movies are a reflection of our society’s desires. Now, I will say in the last couple of years there have been hit movies that were clean and good. I hope that the demand for those goes up.

Prayer

2007-11-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

Prayer is a topic of which I do not have any authority to write on. Dean C.J. Vaughn said, “If I wished to humble anyone, I should question them about their prayers.” This statement rings very true in my own life. I shudder to think about how little I talk to my God. When I do talk to Him, I often am not focused on Him but drift off in thoughts. I guess I could relate it to a man trying to talk to his wife during a football game between his favorite team and their rivals where the clock is ticking down in the fourth quarter of a tied ball game. Incoherent is probably the best word to describe it. I often find myself apologizing to my King for daydreaming instead of fellowshipping. I would love to spend three hours in prayer with God as Martin Luther wrote about. But I am not strong in my faith as I should be. Although I have around fifteen to thirty minutes allotted for prayer after Bible reading in the morning, I do not think that they are all ever directly used for solely communion with the Father. I wish that I could say they were. I do pray during the day randomly, but I cannot say that I pray without ceasing as Paul tells us to do in Thessalonians.
I do know, however, that I am continuing to grow in this area of my life. More time is spent in prayer now than several years ago. I think that should be our goal, to grow. I do not think that I need to make an argument for prayer as we all know that we need to do it. We know that Jesus set the example of prayer by His all night prayer meetings with the Father and by His forty nights of prayer and fasting before starting ministry. If Jesus needed a night in prayer to pick His disciples, certainly we need many nights in prayer for our smallest decisions.
How often we find ourselves praying only when we need God. After 9/11/2001 the US put up many signs saying God bless the USA and said they were praying. But how soon have we forgotten the God we need. Only when tragedy strikes do we turn to Him. I am not just criticizing the country, but also myself. When I preach, I need to pray for the power of God. I know of one time where the sermon was going horrible I felt, and I almost just stopped in the middle of a sentence and started praying. But just that little glance towards Jesus of prayer for His power turned the whole sermon around. But I waited until things were going bad. Instead, I need to look to Him for everything. I need His power and presence in my life to ever do anything for Him. This power comes from humble prayer before Him.

Discipled by parents

2007-11-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Growing up I believe that I was discipled by my parents. No, I do not recall them sitting down and going through a discipleship book with them. But I do remember praying with them before school in the morning, during meals, at night before bed, and other random times. I also remember walking down the stairs in the morning and often seeing my dad at his desk reading his Bible and doing his quiet time. Then in the kitchen I would see my mom reading her Bible while eating her cereal. So guess what I did. I had a quiet time and learned to have a prayer life. While it was not automatic, practicing spiritual disciplines in front of your children is also teaching them how to do it. So if you are not doing those, then your children, I believe, are less likely to practice it.
I really enjoy talking with my parents about spiritual things. It is awkward sometimes, and I do not think that I was always like that. But I think that it has its place and is important for the child to see that you do have a spiritual side to you besides just going to church. My mom always shared with me who she was witnessing to. This encouraged me to pass along my faith, but also to pray for the lost.
I know that my parents were not perfect. They taught me that as well. But I did learn quite a bit from them. My dad’s willingness to be a missionary is probably the main root that caused me to go into missionary work. He never became a career missionary, but he was always ready and willing to go. He went to Mexico for a two week trip as a doctor. They held clinics to meet physical needs and had people there meeting spiritual needs as well. Then he took our whole family to the Amazon in Brazil where he volunteered for two and a half months in 1993 and six months in 1996-1997. If I had never had that exposure to Brazil, I am pretty sure that I would not be returning to that same area where I was before. God really used those trips to impact my life. So maybe God has never called you to full time Christian ministry, but that does not mean God cannot use you to shape your children’s future in serving God. Be open to ministry opportunities and having the opportunity to expose them to Christian service.
We are not all called to be in full time Christian ministry, but we are called to be full time Christians. We may not have the time to study and preach a 45 minute message to our kids every week, but we can read and study the Bible enough to show our kids the importance of it.

New to Blogging, the Jesus Question

2007-11-02T10:41:00.000-04:00

So I am new to blogging, but not to writing down my ideas. I am writing what is labeled on my computer as a "book," but I do not have enough confidence to really call it a good book. It is more a collection of my ideas. I think that I will post them soon enough. Right now my computer is crashed and in the HP center in Memphis and I don't really have access to my "book" that hopefully does not get erased off my computer. Here is an excerpt I wrote about Jesus though. Let me know what you think. Hope it is not too long for you.

Who is Jesus? My brother Phil has really been thinking lately about who Jesus really is and how He treated people. This is a great question because it really is a debatable question. There are all kinds of sects in Christianity that think differently about this question. Even non-Christians have their opinions about Jesus. Although some try to prove He never existed, that is kind of rare because it is so far-fetched and beyond reason. Many people create their own Jesus to fit their own ideas or beliefs. Others do not care about who Jesus was and how He affects their life. Some have never heard of Jesus because the government has banned any knowledge of Him. If you look at the life of Jesus, you see a life of compassion for the multitudes. Some times He would weep about it. Other times He would just start healing and teaching the people. He truly desired for the multitude to know the truth. He accepted people for who they were, but also had the desire to bring them into a right relationship with the Father (reconciliation). He went to the destitute and lonely. To the woman at the well, He gave the living waters. Despite her background as a woman who could not keep a husband, He still spoke to her. She even knew that Jesus should not be speaking to her because of the customs of the day, but He did anyway. He impacted and changed her life, enough so that the entire town came out to see Jesus. Think about it. The town knew this woman and how she had all these husbands. Jesus changed her life enough to where the town saw the difference and came out to see who made the change. There must have been a change in her for the town to listen. That is the business Jesus is into; meeting people where they are and radically changing their lives to be a follower of Him.Zaccheus was not a respected man. After all, he took people’s money and profited greatly from it. No one liked the man and people would not talk to him. He was a thief and every one knew it. But Jesus still talked to him. Zaccheus saw Christ for who He was and it impacted him to the point of radically changing his life. After Christ changed his life he gave a bunch of money away. He gave it to those that he had wronged. I think that Jesus loved everyone no matter their past. He did not look at people’s outward appearance and decide if they were good enough for God to use. He knew that God uses everyone no matter their past. God sees the potential that we have, even though He could see failures of the past and future. Even though Jesus could have judged people and passed by them, He knew their spiritual needs and stopped to help. We can learn from Him in so many ways in how to treat people. We are to deal with people in love at all times because that is what Christ did. When we love others, Christ’s love is shown to them. When encountering Christ, people’s lives should change. As Christians, we should be the little Christ’s that bring people to the knowledge of the truth of God through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of our knowing Jesus Christ, our lives should radically change. II Corinthians 5:17 says that we are new creations. Once we are saved, we are made alive spiritually. We have the ability to walk in the newness of life. Before salvation, no one is expected to live a “good life.” We are born sinners and do not have Christ in us. I am not saying that someone cannot be good, but rather that their nature is to sin. We can never expect an unsaved person to act like a Christian. Yes, we shake our heads at statistics on the nation that tell us of immorality, drugs, alcohol, and killing. What can we expect? They are not able to walk in the truth. They are carnal and live in spiritual darkness. I have been writing on this topic for a little while, having realized that many books have been written on the same topic. Then I came across a pretty popular author named the Apostle Paul who explained it much better than I ever could. Colossians 3 says:Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. COL 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. COL 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. COL 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. COL 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. COL 3:6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, COL 3:7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. COL 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— COL 3:11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. COL 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. COL 3:14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. COL 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. COL 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. The chapter starts out basically saying that if you are saved, this is how you should act. In verse five it says to put to death the parts of your life that are earthly or of sin nature. We started as sinners, but having put on Christ, we now have the ability to reject our sin nature. I am not saying that we will not struggle because that is definitely not true. We all struggle with sin all the time, but we do have Christ and have the ability to put on the new man as verse ten says. We need to continually grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. As we read Scriptures, we learn to be more like Christ and hopefully do make those right decisions to follow Him. Once we encounter Christ as our Savior and Lord, we experience progressive sanctification. We are becoming holier and holier as we grow in Christ. That means that we are becoming more and more like Christ. Our compassion for others will grow as our heart for Christ grows. So the main point of these last couple of pages is that Jesus loves everyone and accepts everyone, but once you accept Him it should radically change your life.