A nice combination

As you may note, I have been reading "The divine Conspiracy" from Dallas Willard and "Soul Survivor" from Philip Yancey. The first talks about a radical approach of the message of Jesus Christ to live today, the second talks about lives of great man that were great because of their faith in Jesus Christ. The first talks very well about how to and the second talks very well about how they have done.
May I move my life on to live like I am been teached now.

Fear, love and compassion

I am in a company in a hard transition, our division was sold to a private American company, as this week we had contact with our new boss and we would know our new structure, there was some changes in what was expected, than I became to fear what would come.
Thanks to God I had never experimented disemployment after married, but I fear to became one in next weeks, beside all Plan Bs I started to make, I remembered I John 4:18 "perfect love drives out fear" (things from Holy Ghost). The fear comes when you forget the care and the purpose of God to you.
Thanks to God, my boss have me in his plans, I am a little relieved now. But I felt a little what would like to not be employed and to cut house expenses, to search for an employement. I feel deeply compassioned for those people have this kind of dispair today, my prayers are with them.

Bad time for a game?

It is 5:10 PM, it is the final of Copa America and I have 30 minutes to take a shower and get ready with Heloiza and my doughter Maria Ester to go to church at 6:00 PM, Brazil is playing against Argentina, our worst sport rival in South America.
Even without Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Brazil could make a very good season and made it to the final. Every game against Argentina is very tough, our nerves get the highest. Penalty against us? Gol for Argentina!
Oh no! I get to get the shower!
It is a bad time for a game of a bad time for a service?
Act:It is 9:35 PM, we are back from a tremendous service, I checked the news and Brazil and Argentina tied by 2x2, but Brazil won at penaltys!
We are the champions!!!! (Again!!!)

Disappointment

Last Friday I have found a very interesting text about our church in Brazil written by Pr. Caio Fabio, "Sorry for the disgust" (the text is in Portuguese and I have tried to translate it to English, it is not as good, but I hope you will get some ideas of it). He confess a high level of discomfort of seeing Christianity as it is today.
We have more people claiming theirselves as evangelicals, we have more hours of services in TV, we have more evangelical products sold, but there are many problems arised. We have churches challenging african cults with the same tools of them, we have a large range of rituals preached for the sake of Jesus Christ, things much more sophisticated than Jesus Christ even thought!
I confess I share the same discomfort and it is hard to deal with that, in that times you are easily labeled as a guy taking part of the devil that doesn't like the revival we have here. I can't see any revival if we continue to have lots of poor people starving here far from be attended by them.
I am attend a kind of conference in the church I am going, today we have exposed one vision of what means the kingdom of God, the pastor concluded that we live a situation of repentance and claimness for a church that is large but very mistaked. Tomorrow we will have a preach called "The Gospel of the evangelicals and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God", it is ironic, Ithink  it have became different. 

Films of the weekend

As previously in last post, after a long time I could finally see some films that were in my interior list, but all at once, thanks to our winter that brings a kind of cold weather that is very hard due humidity, some friends told me that this kind of cold weather is sometimes worse than dry cold even with very low degrees, it has been an average of 14 C, but the best to do is to be at home and see some films, I would like to talk a little bit about them:
Saturday was like a trip to Japan with "The Last Samurai" and "Lost in Translation", the day after I have to offer my wife a lunch with Japanese food in shopping we went.
The Last Samurai - I though it a great film, at the beggining I was not taking it seriously because of Tom Cruise, but as I saw some comments about the film, I feel sorry for not seeing it at movie. One of the good comments I saw came from Sandro Baggio, a pastor of a emerging church also in São Paulo in February 24th (comments in portuguese), perhaps what I though is very close of what he wrote, what we saw from the Bushido is closer from what Jesus Christ said than the promises of being "head and not tail" or to have success and prosperity as I have been seen in many evangelical churches today, who readed The Sermon on the Mount with all sincerity and tried to change his life according to it as a disciple of Christ knows very well this kind of difference. The example of the woman that had to treat and to hospedade a man that killed his husband is a hard example for everyone, but according to Jesus is the example.
Lost in Translation - Since the beggining I thougt is as a very interesting film, when you see the making off you get very well impressed with the directress of the film (Sofia Copolla) about her simplicity and the kind of production she leaded. I got a very well idea of when you have to work abroad in a short time and you fell alone, mainly because you are very away from home. Apart from it you get a very nice idea of Tokio, you get nice shots of the city, the life of the people changes when they join their solitude and get to know better the city together The sad thing is that you fell that their loneness came from home, a very serious thing to think: how are we investing in our family in order to not make your partner feel loneny even with us.
Along came Polly - I like every movie with Ben Stiller and also with Jeniffer Aniston (as a good fan of Friends), a like it as a very soft comedy. I though it as a film about safety, I though aboug the false safety we search, Ben Stiller as a risk analyst took his job very seriously, and took it even to his choices of life, the problem is that when we get to analyze the kind of risks that affect us we will never have all info we need and we will be very far away of monitoring all variances of life, Jesus told very well about think about today, tomorrow will bring their own evil. It makes sense to trust absolutally in God, because he knows about those variances, but Jesus traced a perfect way to live withouth concerning about these kind of things.
Finally I would like to tell a little about Shrek 2, which I saw at the movie with my family, it is very amazing, mainly when you relate to other films. I was thinking that all the scandals we have been have have ruined all the trials to create good reputations many people constructed. We have discovered much hypocrisy behind the carpet until the Enchanted Prince and the Fade became the vilains of the film. People today wants authenticity, Jesus also asked for it, something that should be a consequence of every born agai Christian.

I'm back

With the cold weather coming for the weekend and a place in Ubatuba that is not as well sophisticated as wished, Ubatuba became a bad place to stay I Friday I have backed home.
Our week in Serra Negra was very nice, it is always good to be all times with my wife and my doughter, we enjoyed a lot the farm and their warm covered swimming pools, to take some saunas, to fish for the first time (and to get a big fish for the first time). I could finally rest as I could. It was interesting to see some movement created by a priest of the Catholic church in that farm, he created like a intensive First Communion course, the families went to the farm and the kids attended these classes in the morning and in the afternoon. I think it was interesting the kind of opportunitty the priest and the farm created. Mission is a matter of opportunity
The rainy Saturday was a day to reorganize home and to finally see some films, I could see The Last Samurai, Lost in Translation and Along came Polly very nice films, but I will talk about that later...

Vacations!

Thanks to God, last Thursday I prepared everything in office to be back there just on July 22nd. Now I am on vacation, I were to enjoy it on January, I had postponed to April but now it is the time!
That is the time to experience Sabbath, the rest God want us to do, 10 days is not so much to it but it is fine! A nice moment to refresh and to meet God and my family.
I spent the week watching weather forecast so with the rain forecast for our holliday (9 of July) I had to elect plan B, Serra Negra (mountain) and after Ubatuba (beach), I hope to rest some days in Serra Negra, but I would like to go to beach at least 3 days, Although it is winter here, sometimes we have 20 C to 22 C and for me it is fine, I have not gone to the beach this year, actually, last time I went to beach was July last year when I had gone to Fortaleza (very far from here, but wonderful), Ubatuba is 3 hours from here and I like this city very much, if at least I can walk in the beach it will be good.
In my baggage, I have not forget to pack "The Divine Conspiracy", from Dallas Willard, I am getting close to the middle of the book, I am enjoying it a lot, and also "Soul Survivor, how my faith survived the church", it recently launched the portuguese version for this book, I will check Amazon check list out later.
Well, I don't believe I will have internet in places I go (this is another kind of rest I will have), I hope to be back on 21st.
Need your prays.

March for Jesus, No thanks!

Last 26 of June, we have the March for Jesus in Sao Paulo, the march grabbed nearly 2.5 million evangelical people. I didn't go, I sometimes watched TV seeing people dancing, yelling and declaring São Paulo for Jesus. It was a nice event I think, but thinking better the march was much like a Evangelical carnaval than a movement to change hearts for Jesus discipleship, so did some polititians that went there to show their names and to get votes for next municipal election in November.
The problem is that people like me is treated as a betrayer, so did two brazilian articles I highlighed in my brazilian blog. I think Jesus did never think about that, he thought in changing hearts to love, mercy, humility and these changed hearts would make other hearts to change by their behaviour.

Friends are gone

Yesterday I saw the last chapter of Friends, with sadness I can realize that there will be no more new jokes, no more new funny situations. I am a great fan of them and I will continue to see old chapters as much as it will plays.
The end of Friends was likelly the end of dreams of many people that reaches their thirties, in our twenties we are tied to our friends to travel, to go out, to talk until very late. Until come the times to move your life on, marry, have children, move on your career and nothing will be like again. Suddenly we see ourselves alone with a great challenge to get over all the fun we had and have a great new life with new friends and new situations, sometimes it is very difficult to face new reality and to live as new. Keep old friendships is a though task, you have to be very active to call them but the difficult thing is that you don't know how this friendship is as important to them.
I believe friendship at thirties is an art, to be friend and to promote good moments is very difficult when we are drowned among so many issues. Relevant Magazine tells about that in a very nice way.
What I liked about Friend was mostly their sincerity, they was very unable to lie to each other, it is a very good quality that makes friendship very valious.

Psycho behaviour

Weeks ago, we had a judgement of a student that killed three people in a movie theatre by shoting to all places (The movie was "Fight Club"), based on him, Arnaldo Jabor (a famous columnist) detailed a psychopatic man: has no emotions, but can fake them to get what he wants, knows exactly what he wants, determined, do not regret of everything etc...
This is the background of a message we have two weeks ago that striked my heart, the pastor (Rev. Ed Rene) was stunned to realize that this is the kind of behaviour that we are educated to be and also educate our children to be. We have been teached by magazines like Fast Company, (Você S.A. in Brazil) to succeed in our careers with behaviours like the psycho man described above, as the best way to succeed in life.
How to succeed in a interview? Do not show your emotions, show that you know what you want. If you want to be a manager, you need not to be scary to fire someone if he is not productive enough.
The sad thing is that I have been educated in my church to be like that also, I have acted like a psychopatic man when I left my former church, when I hurted good people that were special to me when I intended to fire the psycho guys of the community, I was as psycho as the people that hurted me that moment.
The example Jesus gave is very different, dependency on God, humility, mercy, love, things very away from the behaviour we have been teached
I have just read a chapter telling about beatitudes in "The Divine Conspiracy", and I can realize that the thing to value is very opposite things magazines values.
This is to be different from the world.