Close to decision

Once I was dreaming of planting a church, but I had plenty of dreams a friend to talk about it and a great wish to fullfill them but so far to be fullfilled, that I could only pray about them. I felt there was like a lost link between the dreams I had and the condition I was.
As I told in previous post, a pastor friend of mine could move close to my town and joined us to these dreams, but also got his church assistance and after that we started not only to pray and dream but also to pray and plan.
We have talked about planting a church in north side of Sao Paulo, we have plenty of churches here in my region, some presbiterian churches in north side of my city, but it is hard to find one that dare to have a better communication to reach souls and to dare to implement agressive vision.
And now we are planning to plant a good alternative here. In Mandaqui, a neighborhood in north side of São Paulo. Our region have few commercial and business centers but we have plenty of houses here. People live here and works in other places of our city.
After previous conversations we are foreseeing the date of February 17 to make our first meeting, we are planning to congregate in this first meeting families that once had a very close commitment to some churches but, after some sad experiences are not so like now.
Until February 17 we have 3 concerns:
- Our group: We are counting with three families for our kick off: seven adults, three children and three babies. We are also inviting more three families to attend first meetings. We are looking forward to consolidate our group from 10 to 20 people and starting some outreach events for unchurched.
- A place: Here in Brazil it is not as common to find cafes that should receive our meetings, even more when we have families with children and babies, for our first two meetings we are planning to make in my appartment and later we are searching for meeting rooms at hotels of our region.
- Our children: We have now four children with 6 years average, and the families we are inviting are also in their beggining too. For first meetings we will search for help in order to entertain our children while we consolidate our group. After, when we start outreach events we ourselves must be prepared not to entertain but to reach children also.

Well it have been very exciting days, but days which I feel so dependend on God, we need Him to be the first in all process, and for this case I ask for your prayers.
As soon as we walk ahead, I will share our news.

A good quote to start up 2006!

With this new year I started to read "Leadership wisdom from unlikely voices", a very nice book for emergent leaders, so far I have liked very much. Dave Flemming have collected many good quotes and I would like to share one here:

"It is far easier, though not very easy, to develop and preserve a spiritual outlook on life, than it is to make our everyday actions harmonise with that spiritual outlook. That means trying to see things, persons and choices from the angle of eternity; and dealing with tem as part of the material in which the spirit works" (Evelyn Underhill)

Actually I don't think to develop a spiritual outlook on life easy, for me, seeing things from the angle of eternity is a real challenge to me. I believe that our great spiritual conquests have this condition behind.
Anyway that is a great challenge for me this year.

The World Cup thrills have begun!

Yesterday I could see the final draw of World Cup 2006 in Germany, for this time, the zone of Brazil is not as easy as it was in Korea, because of it, our team should be very prepared prior to First stage with groups, but a 5 time champion should not choose this adversaries. Croatia was a good team in 1998, but I don't know though they are now; Australia can surprise, but Japan has Zico as their coach, a former brazilian player that knows our team a lot, and this is my biggest concern.
Apart from it, it was fun to see Argentina with a though group again (sorry my Argentinean friends, but you know our rivalry).
Next 6 months will be full of expectations and preparations for this very big event.
US friends, I am not sure if USA will make it this time as you did in Japan, Italy and Czech Republic are big teams! And, if you make it, you will find Brazil ahead, remember 1994!

The blessing of being father

DSC00290
Originally uploaded by Lufe Batista.

As we have been atending a baptist church, I had to make our own baptism for Pedro Henrique, I could invite a friend who is a presbiterian pastor to baptize my child, not for a matter to make him baptized, but mostly for a witness of how important is our commitment of being fathers recognizing the Fathership of our God.
We made a very simple event, but it was also very touching.
We were very well reminded by Roberto, that prior to anything, Pedro is a being very loved by God, and God trusted to me and my wife the care for this little life. It is, we are caring first for being a God creature.
We could invite lots of friends, not all could came but at least lots of conversations started from this event, which were what I was willing for this kind of opportunity.
May God bless us, not only for our witness to others as a family but for the witness we will give to Pedro as his fathers.

Dreaming and planning

Latelly, I have been talked a lot with a pastor friend of mine about planting a new presbiterian comunity here in North side of Sao Paulo. These have been very exciting talks because I have been dreaming a lot with it and also he was dreaming of it too.
Beyond the excitement I know there is lot of important decisions to make about it, with whom will we count on it, where and how to start and I definitidely need wisdom from God to start well.
Frankly I have been thinking and praying about this moment for three years, I am so happy and my creativity is faster now. Surely I am starting to take a look on books I have owned last months but not read because it was not time, but now I count on your prayers for wisdom and opportunity.
Surely I will let you know about how it is going.

A photovisit to São Paulo

São paulo at night by Massao
By strength of circunstances I have been surfing at photo's sites, I liked very much the ones I found at Flickr, but I have got a pleasable surprise to find some communities of photos from my city: São Paulo, that is why I invite you to start knowing my city at Flickr at São Paulo community and also at Sampa Flick's, a nice way to start.

By faith

JR Woodward posted a message given last sunday about the second aniversary of Kairos Los Angeles, he told their story as Hebrews 11.
I love to see such cases and they are so insightfull and inspire so much as to think that the church is the hope of this world, and to wish to live such adventures here in Sao Paulo.

Hope

Photo by Mariusm
I would like to talk about what we are here for, what takes people to search for a church and what makes us wake up everyday: Hope.
In a midst of lots of discussions about rethinking church and theology, my inbox receive everyday remindings about lackness, about failure, about resposibility not fullfilled, about our need for a new reformation and the likes until going to the point of getting me a feeling of bitterness until to be tempted to think that the worse is happening in our church. I don't want to flee from all good discussions and questions about our faith, they have made us grow a lot. But I want to remember what we are here for.
When I think about what we have done I can think about trouble, but we are here not because of us, but because of God who had loved us first. When I was thinking about hope, it came a verse from Lamentations, when Jeremiah was also remembering about lots of bad thinks were happening to them, but could brilliantly talk about hope:

"I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed
I remember it all - oh, how well I remember -
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I rembember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope.

God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left..."

Lamentations 3:19-24 (The message)
Hope came ever when we remember who God is in spite of who we are. And I think that remember our hope is the best we can do when we are willing to please Him. He is a God that works for us and in spite of ourselves, makes all evil turn to our good, and this is His nature.
In the midst of all discussions I would like to remember the Hope we have, not for a scape nor for an excuse, but because we can, and if we live in all discussions for themselves away from the hope we got from Jesus ressurrection, we will become the saddest of all other people who also have lots to discuss but don't have this kind of hope.

Is this just a matter of service offered?

I found this very interesting picture from Rick's blog, if you track links you will find very interesting comments about this church add.
I am at very beggining of this emerging conversation and our emergent status in Brazil is also at its very beggining, but this picture brought me some questions: is emerging church just a different service to gather youths to church?
I myself fought a lot for a worship with drums and the like, and many leaders still think this is the matter.
When I read a very interesting article at Church Marketing Sucks: "Why People Leave Church", people themselves try to explain that quality of services are the matter, but as the same excellent article concluded, problems are more like a cummulative effect and has more to do with our inability to solve conflict. Which is: the problem goes around how we are community.
From what I have seen, this story is much deeper than offering services to please everyone. I think the way we do services reflect a lot the culture of a community and has a lot to do with how we express, but what we do and how we live community day by day means the large part of iceberg under the sea.

[RR] - SYDM - Chp 2 - Initiative

I would like to share a little of our discussion at Rambling Reading with the second chapter of Seizing your Divine Moment. The writer opens the book with Johnatan story at I Samuel 13:22 until 14:23 and discuss this situation in this chapter, when all the army was sleeping and Johnatan took his armer and went to Philistines camp to defeat them. Actually, he had everything to act as a victim of God of not being chosen to be the next king, instead of it, showed great courage and created a great opportunity.
An interesting quote of the chapter tells:

"We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life we fail to live."

It is so true! As I read in other book I am reading now, Streams of Living Water, from Richard Foster, he described the Holiness tradition as very related to practice of spiritual disciplines not for Santification itself, but to empower and free us to make the good works we usually are unable to do. When I read the "Spirit of disciplines" from Dallas Willard I could get it, but now I am more convinced about it. It is, Santification implies action.
McManus remembered also the parable told by Jesus about the treasure distributed as the lord went out; this story fits very well with this situation, the guy that received and buried what was trusted to him was pledged guilty and this show how inaction might be a serious matter!
It is the kind of the book I must avoid to read at night, McManus words are like a gas to the fire inside me to be more outrageus at the Kingdom! It is hard to get to the bed and calm down to sleep! I hope and pray to be as outrageous as Johnatan, to realize more for the kingdom and inspire others as I have been inspired.