It was bad but it is good yet!

As game today was scheduled at 12:00, we were not able be dismissed to go home, we had to see the game at office with our collegies, our people set up the projector and we could see a very good image of game, I took a quick visit at McDonald's and ordered my meal to be eaten at beggining of the game.
Seeing Brazil vs Ghana at office was fun, but I had to keep my mood to myself, all leaders was there too, it was fun to listen a lots of tips to the players, complains to our uncreative midfield, to our coach and to the unhappy comments of Galvão Bueno.
Fortunately we won the game, Ronaldo scored again and became the greater scorer of World Cup, our team scored the 200th goal in World Cups and we are at quarterfinals. I was very concern with the phisical advantadge of Ghana, but the match went almost fina, 3 goals is very much at football, but it was not good seeing our team playing directly at defense wating for counter attack, lucklly, very lucklly Ghana scorers was so unhappy to make goals, they got plenty of opportunities but were unable to score one, people are talking against our defense, but I think our defense is playing very fine! They at least made the conditions to kick very difficult!
I got nervous until 80' and just later I could be sure we would make another step away.
It's good the match will be against France, it will be a good opportunity for revenge for 1986 (Yeah, I remember) and 1998!
Here a Photo I liked very much with the 15 goals of the fat one of our team:

Tags - world cup, Brazil vs. Ghana

We are very kind too!

There was an experience made by Reader's Digest to find where you will find most cortesy, New York got the first place, but São Paulo got the 4th!!!
Check it here
By the way, thank you for reading my blog!

Tags - Reader's Digest, São Paulo

Now it's just 16!!!

The First stage has just finished with very few surprises, this stage was almost boring, this because most of the groups were already defined before third round.
May be Ecuador and Australia had a very great first stage, I expected also that South Korea could go ahead instead of France, but they deserved it. My great disappointment was with Serbia and Ivory Coast, none of them could take Argentina out on the first stage like happened last year!

Tags - world cup

Well done!

Brazil 4 x 1 Japan
I didn't have a great expectation about this game becasuse, after Japan's game against Australia, they was not showing a very competitive soccer and losing for Japan for me simply was not an option. I believe not being arrogant with this, but though last games were not so fabulous for Brazil, we still have a great team.
That is why I have got angry with the first goal against Brazil, and it went a long time without suffering any goal, when I was thinking our defense were doing so well! And there came the goals from Ronaldo (for the happiness of Galvão Bueno, comentator of TV Globo that is leading a campain supporting him), Gilberto, Juninho Pernambucano (who I thought would play against Australia and scores a goal in every match for Brazil) and Ronaldo again. Now he is the top scorer tied to Miller (though Argentinean commentators likes to remember that Miller scored the 14 goals in World cups in fewer matchs). I could not have a great fun with that because for me those goals were like an obligation.
Now it is serious, against Ghana we will not meet a so fragile defense and we should not commit those mistakes again.
Tags - world cup, Brazil v Japan

Ufa!!!

I'm back from my friends home where we could see Brazil x Australia, our brazilian team was not as terrible as the team list shows but we could make it!
First goal was my preferred because the ball started from Ronaldinho Gaucho and went to Ronaldo and after to Adriano, they're terrible players, we are expecting more from them and if you give them space to play that is what happens.
I know Gus Hiddnik is a very good coach and if I were him I would do the same, the think is to close all space to stop the ball. And we, Brazil, need more creativity to get along with it.
Tags - world cup, Brazil v Australia

Mandaqui Project - Challenge and Prayers

Last saturday we could resume to our biweekly meetings, we have arose some challenges that need prayers:

We need a church to send us, we need a visionary church with a mind open think in order to not suffocate us, but a church that could help us and could send us, because we cannot send ourselves; in this matter we will recognize God's approvement on our project

We need a solution to our children, our wives efforts to ministry to children have been tremendous but they are very needed when we are defining our group without let children without ministry, we need in this matter a very creative solution.

We count on your prayers

Tags - church planting

Culture piracy

Copia Originale, by Torephoto
Weeks ago I was talking with a group of friends about issues regarding emerging church and church culture. One of the guys was complaining about how church most of the times goes after culture and ends copying what culture presents instead of setting new patterns for culture, he explained mostly with musical examples.
That made me think: How to spread the gospel and become really relevant to cuture?
Beggining with Paul, (at I Co 9:19-23 NIV , but more conclusive at The Message) we started to think about strategies to reach people of other cultures, and in order to be relevant to their cultures, we started to state a kind of missionary approach:

go to places where we can assess culture,

get what are relevant to them,

apply message to culture elements risen

and launch the efforts to present Gospel with the culture elements of people in order to make them understand our message,

isn't that right?

Sometimes not so much! Those items can become too summarized when we insert lens to the process. Things are not so simple. The thing is how we get cultural elements to become relevant to the culture?
And my answer came when I could recognize the difference between copying cultural elements and diving into culture.
Long ago a pastor was planning to preach at a kind of neighbor and told me that we should learn how to play samba as they liked, the thing was that we didn't like samba as the neighbors liked (not allbody in Brazil likes samba), if we rehearsed some samba music or compose some samba the results should be a disaster, mostly because it would lack authenticity.
And this is the big ingredient that makes the difference when thinking about relevance, we have screwed up lots of thinks when we went to people thinking about spreading the gospel to them but thinking about them as targets, going to them with second thoughts. This is the danger of friendship evangelism, because you think first about evangelize and thinking about being friend in order to get very well impressed and to make them accept Jesus as saviour. Authenticity lacks here, if your friend does not accept your message, would you abandon him and go after another target?
Unfortunately, these kind of urgency approach made us pirates with piracy music, piracy friendship and piracy culture. The music is not so real, its our music in another style, the art is not real, it's message without core.
In this talk, a pastor quoted Francis Shaeffer when told that unfortunataly, church has been had a very utilitarian use of art, which has made them lack this so need authenticity. Art is expression, not strategy.
I have learned that diving into culture requires a though job harder than just copying elements of culture. A more authentic approach makes you walk among people, learn with them, getting interest about them and present the difference of Jesus Chirst that applies to any culture.

Originally posted at Dream Awakener

Tags - culture, church planting, missions

I highlited in the morning

"When I hear the voices accusing me, or accusing someone else in my thoughts, and I can't see who it is in the darkness, I need to remember who is really on the mat with me. It isn't my roomate or coworker or wife. I need to remember it is Satan face. My enemy is the same one who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden - and Jesus in another garder." Paul Thorson, Paiting in the dark

Tags - guilt, revenge

It's Show Time!!! Brazil starts today!!!

World Cup excitement begun here two weeks ago and since them it's all that have been talked so.
Mc Donald's started to sell special sandwiches based on the seven winners of the cup (Italy, Germany, French, England, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina). At TV most of the commercial it's about World Cup.
In the previous week people started to decorate streets with Brazil's flags and green and yellow colors, as I live at an apartment I decorated our office at Tuesday with balloons, ribons and our Brazilian flag.
We have a great expectation for this cup as we have won the last and at this cup we have an even better team with four of the best forward players of the world.
Today, the day of our debut, we could see lots of people dressed with yellow or green shirts and lots of cars with brazilian flags, the world cup excitement is at the air. We could leave office at 3 in order to see the Brazil and Croatia, all offices closed to it and almost nothing works during game time.
First half has ended and it's already 1x0 to Brazil, go Brazil!!! Let's get our sixth!!!