What happens when you are hard to forgive.

Last Monday we have a great event of pseudo-marriage (they could not really marriage because they are not divorced) of Ronaldo, our best soccer player. It was a very great opportunity to spread all kinds of gossips. Ronaldo chose the Chantily (France) castle to marriage and spent millions of dollars to guarantee it would be a dream come true.
It was sad to see all his friends with very serious faces going to the celebration, they seemed too worry because of the press and lots of photos. Ronaldo builded a very solid scheme to block all press to his marriage, later we will have the fortunate guy that could take some photos of it. It was discussed a lot, celebreties need the press to climb but move them out later.
The sadiest think was when Daniela (the bride) expelled a girl that entered the pary together with a gest (her friend). She had problem with this girl earlier when she used to date another guy in Brazil. The thing is that people are talking more about the expelling than the marriage itself. The girl is a model and her payment lifted 900% after what happended.
It happens when you are hard to forgive, when you are intentional to show that people must be punished, they got to be rewarded by your anger.

The beginning of another great adventure

Here he/she is!
We have begun our year with a great surprise, our family will be greater and we received a big gift from God, one to love and to care for our Dad.

Jesus didn't like to eat alone

"Jesus often did things alone, but it seems he didn't like to eat alone. He invited strangers and friends to eat with him without preconditions and accepted meal invitations from almos anyone"

Leonard Sweet, Out of the question into the mystery
Add to checklist - To lunch alone is a boring thing indeed, try to lunch not at a time convenient to me but at a time convenient to join with others to meal.
I knew a mall where the common place to meal were somewhat restricted, therefore they encouraged people to lunch at empty chairs even when the table (for 4 people) where occupied by one or two people. It is ironic to see how embarassing it got to be!

License to sin

It's Carnaval, this is our biggest holliday, as it usually stays at the beggining of the year, most people (and even business) uses to take the year seriously after Carnaval, in January people set up their vacations and Carnaval is a sign that after that, most people are back to work. Even churches have slow attendance in January and waits this holliday to start their seasons.
This a huge holliday, it's ever on Tuesday, and people back to work after Wednesday ashes. As it is a big holliday, we have many churches seting retires to youths, I used to go every Carnaval to a retire, I had good moments on that. As I lost contact with youth ministry, now I'm at home.
Carnaval was a ancient party tolerated by church where people used to have a more free behavour before ashes, this is the spirit of the party here (except for the observation of lent), people go to party very ready for casual sex. We have parties at TV with a very liberal behaviour.
It is ironic the origin of this party, it implies a very religious concern but in a legalistic context, where the sin is a need to be avoided instead of a bad thing that brings bad consequences to ourselves and to our relationship with God.

The Emerging Church

Last week I was able to finish "Emerging Church", from Dan Kimball, I have also good personal referencies from him. This book is very nice referenced and I liked the comments made through all book from Rick Warren (Saddleback), Brian McLaren, Howard Hendricks, Chip Ingram, Sally Morgenthaler and Mark Oestreicher (I know the first two, but started to like others).
The books adress very well a big problem church is facing today, mainly to gather youth. I believe we have a kind of abuse of the solutions purposed last years so that many churches rather trust in the solution than in core Christinism itself. All of this problems helped us to lost much of our authenticism, I believe the problems is the faith in solutions and solutions abuse, I went to Willow Creek tree years ago, and I think they provided me nice solutions also, I think those are tools to be used and would be very worth here yet.
The book made me understand very well the elements of many of the emerging churches I have became a fan (many of them are listed at left). There are a lot of insights that broaden my alternatives to think about church. I don't know if I would apply them all, as even Dan told, this is a matter of sensivity of how we are today, here in Brazil we have a certain kind of post-modern mind spreaded throughout youths, but I couldn't notice yet if they are as spiritual as to be close to lots of elements showed at the book. This is not to say I am not going to shopping and trying the insensus and candles at different smells.

Lot of rain and lot of DVDs

I have just returned all films to the movie renter and became satisfied with I have saw. This week began with our city vacations, but we have rain almost all day, nice days to see some movies at home:
Starsky & Hutch - These series were at TV when I was a child, but I had not notice it enough. I thing Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are very funny partners. I though the interviews at extra also very funny.
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind - That is a great movie, I liked to see an unrecognizable Jim Carrey, I think this flexibility is a characteristic for a great actor. I think this movie tried to show that our experiences make the difference to make us change in our lives, if we take out our memories we would take the same choices we could make earlier, these kind of choices will reflect our intact nature. From each experience we have, how do we react is very important, if we react with bitterness, we will be tied to our past in order to not release otheres. But if we get Jesus solution, that is forgiveness, we will be free from the past to live present and creat good memories for the future. I think this is a very nice movie to discussion.
Butterfly effect - That was another nice surprise of a comediant playing a serious film. I think it is like a post-modern "Back to the Future", the character is able to back to his traumatic moments of his life, fix them, but cannot avoid other consequences of this. I have found in DVD a nice retrospective about travel through time, we can note how is wished to be back on time to gain some grasp about our lives. Though a life that can be easily fixed will take out the opportunities to learn from mistakes and to make good turnarounds in life. I think these opportunities of turnarounds and to learn from mistakes make the life so precious, and make Jesus Christ the best answer of all for all that find theirselves tied to their hopeless lifes, Jesus is the only that can give a solution to all hopelessness and the sense that nothing can be turned to good.
The Village - I liked the surprise of this film that, by this time, it was not a supernatural thing, but a great surprise of what fear can generate.
Harry Potter and the prisioner of Azkaban - Cool film, but I think I don't have enough patience for this kind of film anymore. I reserved this film for my wife if The Village were a lot disturbing, but this was not the case.

My First Bonhoeffer

I was told a lot about Dietrich Bonhoeffer so that in the first opportunity to read his books, when Life Together was chosen to be discussed in Rambling Reading, I got to buy other two other books from him.
Life Together tells about his community experience in a seminary he runned at Germany in Second War times. After his seminary was closed he was arrested and killed in a concentration camp in 1945.
I found very interesting his direct talk when telling his positions, there are many ideas that is being told today but surely without the deepness of Bonhoeffer.
One of the things I kept in my heart is how Communitty is essential and important, he tells how people that experience it today might be happy in detriment of many with a very small Christian witness, but though I live in a country with a lifting Evangelical witness, I also miss this kind of experience.
Bonhoeffer tells that the community in Christ is essential because through that, our brother tells to us in Christ, period. It is, through this kind of friendship, God uses our brothers and sisters to help us and to teach us. He is not telling about fellowship that is develop through barbecues and cafes post-services, but something deeper, he explained difference so that to experience community, we have to experience a kind of disapointment of community, so that we do not love people because of what they can bring to us, but love them because of Jesus Christ.
It is a hard journey, because it implies authenticity, integrity ang forgiveness but takes us to a very wished place that is the community Jesus purposed.
Surely all this things will be in my heart, and I hope to offer this kind of love from now on.

An early weak up for the vacation week

I have three more days of vacation, I will be back to office on Thursday. All my dreams of vacation begins with late weak ups, these were not the case for the days in Ubatuba because we wished to get ready soon to spent larger moments at beach. This was not the case for today, I wished to get a quick drop on the bathroom at 6:30 and when I got back I could not sleep again.
Since I read the life of Jeremiah in "Run with the horses" every time I wake up early in the morning (and when I can stay at bed more), I feel I am called by God to a moment with HIm, I have few excuses now.
But it's ever been good, I opened my windows to breath the fresh air and I recall lots of moments when I was breathing fresh air at retreats and travels that made well a lot to me. I thanked God for all those moments and to be called to think about it.
Even more when I could read the Uprising chapter about gratitude, when you are greatfull you see grace, when you are not you became a child thinking you deserve everything you want, but now you know everything is not good for you. The other good thing about gratitude is that when you are grateful, you are able to forgive, to stop bitterness and to be free from the past and live present and future.
I believe I will talk more about this book, I have been like it a lot.
Time to buy the school list for my kid, she's vacation is also getting to end! But the day started better than I thought.

Back Again!

After 6 terrific days at beach I'm back home, I have planned to return today because Tuesday will be our city holiday and many more people usually plan to go to the beach thanks to this 4 days free (remember, I live in the 5th largest city in the world), I rather stay here in Holidays than stay at beach where gets to have a population of a very large city but no structure to it.
I returned very amused and grateful to God for stayed there, though we had not Sun everyday, actually, we had just two sunny days, the weather was very hot, so everyday got to be beach day, even in the very cloudy days, we got rain just once, when we were getting out to our place, but the rain became a very delicious one. As I have planned to stay in a better place, our investment were well done.
I started to read Uprising, and this book gave me great reflections for my retiring days, I started to think about using its working book for a small group here, when I find friends to be with me.
I have more 6 days in my vacation and I could take advantadge of a Blockbuster promotion for São Paulo hollidays, until Wednesday I have rented: Harry Potter, Starsky & Hutch, The Village, Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind and Butterfly Effect.
I will be back to fullfill what I have promised in my last post, not today... later.

Beginning 2005!

What kind of blogger am I! There is January 14th and I haven't posted nothing!
Surely stop blogging is not one of my new year resolutions!
Actually I would like to talk about my agenda for this year, but in these last two weeks I spent busy a lot working to guarant my next 10 days vacations!
When we try to prepare everything at work for vacation we got really needy for vacations! I have worked a lot! But Thanks to God, I am going very easy to our personal retreat. We are going to the beach, Summer in Brazil Southeast have lots of rain, but is also very hot, I am looking forward for nice sunny days but also for afternoons seeing the rain at our window.
So, if I had posted nothing yet for last two weeks, I will also be silent next week, because Internet will not be as available as now, so it will be difficult to post.
I was planning to talk about "Life Together", from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which I have finished this week and also talk about "Emerging Church", from Dan Kimball which I am close to finish, but both comments will come together with my thoughts about my week in Ubatuba.
I love this city, I love its beaches and though I will probally face hard rains, listen to our calm sea will be wonderfull.
I am taking in my baggage Uprising, from Erwin McManus and also "Out of the question...into the mystery", from Leonard Sweet, just in case of more rain to come.
I count with your prayers!