Humility and trends

I am a big fan of humility. I have always wanted to be a professional humble person, but for now I am just a fan living the dream by watching from my favorite lounge chair. When I was a kid my mom challenged us to memorize the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. I never did it, but I tried a couple times. Humility is an underlying theme in the part of the sermon that talks about our actions such as giving, fasting and praying. Our character does not just affect those areas in our life, it affects all of our actions. Either humility or pride plays out daily in all aspects of our lives. 

But in today’s world the culture pushes us out of the humble prayer closet. Actions go public easily. We see each other’s every move on social media. Here in Brazil the offering often involves walking up in front of the church to give. And the trend of the selfie… well, that just deserves a post of its own. It seems that we do whatever to call attention to ourselves, when our real job is to call attention to someone just a little more important than us. 

I don’t want to offer a list of suggestions; you can do that below. I just want to offer the first: that is, to be aware of God’s call to humility. Be conscious of the words of Jesus and the words of Scripture that call for humility.

Bits August

And we've got ourselves a big school girl. Evelyn started school this month and is doing great. Sarah and I are both proud of her progress in the Abeka homeschool curriculum and with her portuguese. She will turn 5 this month and is growing up super quickly. Here is a quick message from her: "Hi, my name is Evie. My birthday is in three weeks and it is going to be Doc McStuffins."

Our Bible study group has entered the New Testament in our study of the Story of Hope. We continue to have great conversations with them and look forward to finishing the study and culminating in a good talk about salvation.

I started teaching English in an English school this past month and have 14 students and the permission to talk about whatever I want to (as long as I finish their curriculum). In one class I was asked how to know for sure you are going to heaven. I am glad for the chances that God has given us through English to talk about Him. We have people interested in coming here short term and I have told them that they can have an immediate impact just through English.

Another trip that would be great is football; yes, american football, the one that started this weekend. I am helping coach/play with this brand new team in this soccer country. They are pretty low level; so any football knowledge helps!

We continue to develop relationships and make new ones by playing sports, going to the park and most recently going out for ice cream. People are everywhere and intentionality is key.

We were able to finish our Old Testament modules in Recife this past month. We did a small training for a church with using Good Soil materials (Story of Hope and Way to Joy) and then preached in 3 different churches.

Sarah has a couple different parties this month (Bia's baby shower and Evie's bday party). Pray those go well as we will have new people around.

Thanks so much for your prayers! This last month we prayed over some land that we saw that is at a good price and in our target location. I also have been praying about a church that is already built that does not have a congregation. But most of all I am praying for the actual future church; the salvation of the people that will make up the church! God bless!

All for HIS glory,
David, Sarah, my little schoolgirl that asked for the keys to the car last night, and my little monkey who turned her nose up at a homemade chocolate chip cookie last night to reach for cold leftover broccoli and loved it.

Urgency and the Spirit

War in the Middle East; another suicide of the rich and famous; and a continuous changing world that can be radically offended by all different types of actions. As Christians, how do we know how to approach people with the gospel?

The Word of God has the answer to the world's problems. So do we just give it to them straight? Do we jump into the streets throwing the Word here and there to see where it hits? Do we call out sin as we see it?

The problem with this approach is in God's command to make disciples. So many in this world are immediately offended at anything and as soon as we start to preach anything they distance themselves even further from our loving God.

In reality, what we need is discernment. We need wisdom in how to deal with others. Some may be ready to embrace the gospel with their whole lives, while others just need to know that Christians care and are here to serve the world (which is true). They need a faithful friend and once they know you are there to be their friend despite their actions, then they will be more open to the gospel. Sometimes we need to preach, but sometimes we just need to hug someone.

So what I suggest is that we get in better tune with the Spirit. We need God's help. We need wisdom from above. We need divine appointments that come from our being in step with the Father. God is ready to use us but our responsibility is to be ready and available and dedicated to doing His will. We are not robots; we constantly choose whether or not to listen to the Spirit and we must constantly ask Him to guide us through our day. With the urgency of our time, we must depend on God for every decision so that others can ultimately be changed by God's marvelous grace.

Traditionalism and Sinning

Last night I preached in a tie. I am not against ties in general, but when there is a "traditionalist, you can only preach with a tie on" mentality, I am against it. In our region in Brasil this mentality exists in some evangelical churches. I went to one church in the normal dress up wear of jeans and a polo and the Pastor invited me to preach. When I stood up at the front he said, “even though he is not wearing Pastor’s clothes he is going to preach for us tonight.” Most of these churches here with this mentality are small and dying and filled with scandals. 

I compare this to the priests and leaders of the Old Testament that were separated for the work of the Lord and wore all white. In the beginning it may have been good, but after a while it turned into a pride thing. Jesus ended up calling some of them white washed sepulchers; white and pure on the outside and dead on the inside. (I wonder if that is why Hebrews talks about the priesthood of every believer).

So personally, I like to emphasize to people that as a preacher/pastor, I have the same sin capability. I have flesh and blood just like everyone else and sin just like everyone else. We all struggle and all need God’s help. 

But the problem is; we often use that mentality as a crutch. The truth is: we don’t have to sin. We have all that we need from God to never sin again. Now, before you put me with the radical group that stands on the street corners with signs condemning the world believing that they cannot sin, that is not what I am saying. 

If we constantly choose God over sin, we do not have to sin. God has given us power over sin so that we do not have to live in it any longer. We were set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). In OT Survey class the other day I told the class that they did not have to sin; that they could live without sin. They did not believe me. I had to teach them as if it were a new truth. Could it be possible that the pendulum has swung to the opposite side of traditionalism that we no longer even think that we can go through the day without sinning? I know that is really hard to do, but if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time. 

We must choose God early in the morning and give him the controls for the day. Every day. Let’s pray more often for the Holy Spirit to have total control over our lives so that we do not choose sin over God!

Bits July

Opportunities. I feel like that is a good word for this update.

In our Wednesday night Bible study we started the New Testament this past week. The first story is the birth of Jesus. Before getting deep into the study one friend explained how we had gone through the Old Testament first because it gives a base and tells us why Jesus is important. Well said. I did not even have to pull that out of anyone. The discussions during the study continue to be very good.

Arcoverde is getting a football team! "haha, you say, Arcoverde has tons of football teams, the FOOT ball!" "On the contrary," I reply; "an american football team." A guy whom I met in the park that speaks English told me he also played football and loves it; and just recently he told me he is forming a team here that will be part of the state league and will be supported by the sports department of the state government. I am trying to assist him in this. I told him that maybe we could get some people to come down and do some teaching/coaching if he let them share their story about their Christian life. He said of course. So, let me know if you are interested and what kind of experience you have! This is a brand new team and I am pretty sure that most of the team has never played football before.

I have had several opportunities to speak, teach and preach and will have several more this month including some Good Soil training August 16 and finishing the Old Testament module I am teaching in Recife on the 22nd and 23rd.

Sarah is looking to do a baby shower for a friend. Imagine that, Sarah trying to plan a party! (that was sarcastic; Sarah loves parties and does a wonderful job on them)! She is loving the life here in Arcoverde, super excited for the house we are building (click on this for pictures), and has recently started running again. She received more presents and attention than she ever has on her 22nd birthday that she had earlier this month. :)    (To not be accused of a liar; that smiley face represents a purposeful typo in the previous sentence, fyi).

We are both excited to receive our friend Ben Foster this month here in Arcoverde and also to see Alisson and Christina Arruda in Recife as they will be here visiting family! We love visitors! We just had a family here that are looking to come to Brasil as missionaries in the future and the Outback is an option! We were able to spend some time with them and show them around. Pray for the Surrett family as they make a decision regarding their future!

Our Pastor's group really flourished this month. There seems to be a strong unity, friendship and common goal of seeing the Outback reached for Christ! Just today I heard from them of two new works that will open up in nearby cities.

I also started teaching English at a local school here once a week. I have 12 students and had a good time in my one class I had so far. I am also arriving at a point where I will have to decide to say no to some things, which simply means we are not as new here anymore and that we have a good amount of friends! Please pray that we would use our time wisely. We are also at the beginning stages of looking at land to buy for the future church that we will have here. Please pray for wisdom in that and we will let you all know details as soon as we have time to work through them ourselves. But we will possibly be starting to ask for land and building money and also building work teams (which will be our first time as missionaries to do this)!

Thanks for all your prayers. They are evident and sustaining. Please keep them coming.

All for HIS glory,
David, Sarah, the very creative singing little mommy who enjoys playing house, and the climbing, running little monkey that we found standing on the dining room table the other day.

Bits June

Goal!!! Anna Claire and Evelyn come running when they hear the TV announcer or their daddy yelling. We then run around the living room celebrating the goal for whoever scores (unless it is against the US or Brazil). The World Cup happens every four years and this year it is in Brazil which has caused a lot of madness around here. Besides the World Cup there is a cultural 10 day party called São João that just ended Saturday and our city is the “capital” of that party. There is a concert every night, a type of fair with rides for kids and adults, and cultural food. It has to do with harvest time and there are all kinds of corn dishes. 

So basically we have spent the last few weeks partying. We have been in three different houses for Brazil games and had a Brazil game party in our house (everyone showed up early) as well as for the US game (everyone showed up way late). We have met many family members of our friends that came from out of town for São João. I also received a couple boxes of pamphlets for the World Cup about the Victorious Life and the book of Romans. I was able to pass out a couple of boxes already. The church I preached in last night took more than a box worth and are going to pass them out. Our colleague in Recife received 55,000 of these. Pray he is able to distribute all of them. 

This month we did some more English sessions with some friends. I was also asked to teach at an English school on Saturdays. I really do not think this is a strong point for me, but am considering it as God could open doors through this. We have friends in a creative access country that are seeing their relationships flourish through an English center and we have seen how beneficial it can be here as well. Pray that we have wisdom to do what is best for God’s glory here. 

Starting a new term in a new area has slow starts in terms of ministry busy-ness. Life is busy, but it is not full of teaching, preaching, etc… But we know those times will come as we continue to build relationships. Pray  that the gospel permeates our lives and affects those around us!

We are continuing with the construction of a house here and as usual are thrilled with the paperwork demands here in Brazil. We may be able to get a loan here, but so far it has been all but easy. Please pray that God provides something for us. 

This next month there will be a couple visiting the Outback to see about possibly working here in the future! Pray for God's will for their visit!

All for HIS glory,

David, Sarah, my bruised up four year old (three marks on her forehead; ran into wall, fell into chair and I don’t know where the other came from) and my little fishy face one year old

Prayer Kick-starters

Praying is a discipline that is an up and down for me. You are probably thinking, “but David you are a missionary, and are perfect, and follow in the footsteps of others in ministry who had so much to do that they had to wake up earlier so they could pray more.” Well, no. I am very in and out and was appalled the other day when someone said something about me being a prayer warrior. I did not respond or correct them though I knew it to be far from the truth. The reality is that I am pretty random. My strides to be consistent in the morning have failed often due to wandering thoughts, wandering tasks and most of all, wandering children. But there have been many times in my life when my prayer life has been kick-started and I thought I would list just a few:

1. Tribulation: Probably the number one kick-starter for a good prayer life is a good tribulation. Something goes wrong. The baby is sick. A close friend has cancer. Persecution looms. Difficulties are inevitable in life and we all pass through them; (yes, even those in churches who have the promise of a prosperous life for their faithful). Once we hit them we realize that only God can solve the problems and we tend to be more serious about our prayer life.
2. Financial Needs: A financial difficulty could also be under the classification of a tribulation, but I separated it here because people are pretty close to their financial needs. When there is no bread, the Lord’s prayer is there to ask for the daily bread. We are building a house but have not found a good loan yet and that has caused us to pray more. We need God to answer; otherwise we don’t receive what we want (and prayer helps us realize that maybe we do not need what we want).
3. A good prayer book: There are some great prayer books out there. Jim Cymbala, Mark Batterson, AW Tozer, (I am guessing Kay Arthur and Beth Moore both have written on the topic), E.M. Bounds and maybe even Bruce Wilkinson (although some would say that book brought in the Prosperity Gospel). I read Circle Maker by Mark Batterson last year and it made a huge difference in my prayer life. I grew in my prayer life during that time. 
4. Deliberate morning worship: After going to some prayer services where we sang and then prayed I decided to include singing in my prayer time. If you go to my youtube channel I have my favorite praise and worship songs separated out so that I can go through them and think about the love of God, majesty of God and worship Him through music. Worship is part of prayer and has made a difference when I realize that the better part of prayer is concentrating on God rather than on my needs and wants. 
5. Hanging around a prayer warrior: Growing up in church we had a man in a wheelchair named Brother Jack. He would ask you to help him “practice” praying. I know he prayed more than he did anything else (besides maybe smiling). Although the thought of such people is sometimes overwhelming because we know we could never be like them, it does help us to pray just a little bit more. 
6. Prayer education: Learning that you do not have to close your eyes and bow your head to pray has helped me quite a bit. Prayer is a conversation throughout the day that includes many small prayers that do not start with a reverent “Heavenly Father” or end with an emphatic “Amen.” God knows when we are talking to Him and prefers the relationship. The “written off by theologians” book The Shack taught me that God wants us as part of the trinity in terms of our fellowship. The Trinity has a close interpersonal relationship and God wants the same fellowship with us. Every aspect in our life intertwining around Him. 

I know that there are many more kick-starters in our prayer life and I also know that we should not need a kick-start! Prayer should be consistent in our lives, but for all you people like me that are unholy and lack in your prayer life, I hope these help. What kick-starters are on your list?