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.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
The Church vs. The Church Inc
The Church Inc
wants to go to the next level
is managed
prays to do something
sees other churches as competition
gives people what they want
wants to please many
listens to someones complaints
The Church
wants to grow
is led
prays to become something
sees other churches as partners
gives people what they need
wants to please One
listens to someones souls
Very nice thoughts I found in Len Evans blog. Makes totally sense for me.
wants to go to the next level
is managed
prays to do something
sees other churches as competition
gives people what they want
wants to please many
listens to someones complaints
The Church
wants to grow
is led
prays to become something
sees other churches as partners
gives people what they need
wants to please One
listens to someones souls
Very nice thoughts I found in Len Evans blog. Makes totally sense for me.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Solution
"Mundo, mundo, se meu nome fosse Raimundo
não seria uma solução, seria uma rima"
Carlos Drummond de Andrade
"Oh World, if my name was Raimundo, it would not be a solution, it would be a rhime"
Many times I was tempted to believe that with only one thing, I could solve all of a problem. I hope to have learned that this is mostly far from true.
Once we grow up, we perceive problems that requires a much complex solution, may be because when we get older, we get the ability to see things in a higher view which make us able to see some connections (not all) of the problems so that one solution affect others.
In the middle of the crisis, I love to remember the hope the Bible gives:
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1st Peter 5: 7)To my God which has total view of the situation, I claim for the perfect solution which respect all other connections and will promote His Glory
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
(Psalm 42:11)
Thursday, June 24, 2004
St John
As the town where I work (Barueri) took St John day's to its local holiday, I could thanks to St John for a great opportunity to sleep until late and not to work today. It is even better because São Paulo (where I live) does not have local holiday and I can enjoy all the services with no rush and few people today.
I waked up late, took my doughter to school and went with my wife to take a walk to a park near my house, drinked some expresso and return home to watch Portugal x England at Euro 2004 (Great job Portugal!). I consider that a very good holiday among others. I am in a holiday in a city in workday.
Throghout this country (manily in small cities) we have great popular parties for St John. Good parties, with lot of popular dancings, nice food, fireworks, very pretty.
Talking about St John, it is a good day to remember what he has done, a very remarkable apostle:
He belonged to the closed circle of Jesus Christ, he might be a very good friend
Though we was not very easy and once claimed with his brother to fire someone that did not listen Jesus (Luke 9:51-56)
He was a very practical men, his writings about the consequences of the faith was very, very clear (1 John 1:5-10)
Once he was very, very old he was able to remember all that he spent with Jesus and wrote a unique gospel wrote to all the world
Also, he saw things very ahead of his age and things of the heaven, things that no other man could see and had to translate all those into words in Revelation. I can imagine how great task he had!
He was a very zealous man, and left very clear his concern of what was the objective of his efforts: to believe (John 20:30-31)
29.06 - Recently I discovered that St John of this day is John the Baptist, a protestant mistake
I waked up late, took my doughter to school and went with my wife to take a walk to a park near my house, drinked some expresso and return home to watch Portugal x England at Euro 2004 (Great job Portugal!). I consider that a very good holiday among others. I am in a holiday in a city in workday.
Throghout this country (manily in small cities) we have great popular parties for St John. Good parties, with lot of popular dancings, nice food, fireworks, very pretty.
Talking about St John, it is a good day to remember what he has done, a very remarkable apostle:
He was a very zealous man, and left very clear his concern of what was the objective of his efforts: to believe (John 20:30-31)
29.06 - Recently I discovered that St John of this day is John the Baptist, a protestant mistake
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Interview with Dallas Willard
Today at morning I read a very interesting interview of Relevant Magazine with Dallas Willard, for me, it becames a quite interesting as I am also reading "The divine conspiracy" and I felt easy to connect his ideas from the book to the interview. I like interviews, it is not common to see interviews with these good Christian authors in Brazil, and I thing Relevant Magazine makes the interviews very "relevant". The interview was performed by Keith Giles, which has a kind of subversive work among Christianity, he made good points and maintained a good conversation.
Here you see the interview:
First part Second part Third part
As I have seen so far in "The Divine Conspiracy", Dallas Willard claims for a more radical following of what Jesus Christ said, he affirmed that what we have today is a lack of discipleship rather than leadership crisis, modeling crisis and programing crisis. In that case I can agree with him, it is hard to have a good conversation about discipleship and not talking about discipleship program, which is far behind what Jesus Christ had really commanded, I think also if we had our total priority in really following what Jesus said, we would not were talking about who's leading what, contemporary churches, apologetics etc... People would see the love and joy inside us and would see the difference. There is a good point of individual changing.
I believe the problem is to talking about the primasy of discipleship and really following Jesus Christ and consider with less importance matters like douctrine, liturgies, rituals while people that consider those matters with a high priority tells that for the sake of following Jesus Christ, it becames a discussion with a high lackness of sincerity, in this moment, the most sincere will loose.
Even with that I believe in a very sincere way of living Jesus Christ as a very countagious way of living, we allways have examples of people living this way and knowing that those people ever becomes a pattern to the rest of community.
Here you see the interview:
As I have seen so far in "The Divine Conspiracy", Dallas Willard claims for a more radical following of what Jesus Christ said, he affirmed that what we have today is a lack of discipleship rather than leadership crisis, modeling crisis and programing crisis. In that case I can agree with him, it is hard to have a good conversation about discipleship and not talking about discipleship program, which is far behind what Jesus Christ had really commanded, I think also if we had our total priority in really following what Jesus said, we would not were talking about who's leading what, contemporary churches, apologetics etc... People would see the love and joy inside us and would see the difference. There is a good point of individual changing.
I believe the problem is to talking about the primasy of discipleship and really following Jesus Christ and consider with less importance matters like douctrine, liturgies, rituals while people that consider those matters with a high priority tells that for the sake of following Jesus Christ, it becames a discussion with a high lackness of sincerity, in this moment, the most sincere will loose.
Even with that I believe in a very sincere way of living Jesus Christ as a very countagious way of living, we allways have examples of people living this way and knowing that those people ever becomes a pattern to the rest of community.
Friday, June 18, 2004
You are my King
I listened to a music, this morning, and this music is in my heart until now. I first listen to this music when I was at Willow Creek Community Church at communion, it was one the most emmotional communion I ever took.
I'm forgivin because you were forsaken,
I'm accepted, you were condemned
I'm alive and well, your spirit is within me
because You died and rose again
Amazing love, how can it be
That you, my King has died for me?
Amazing love, I know its true
its my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You
You are my King
Jesus, You are my King
You are my King
Thursday, June 17, 2004
What kind of denomination should I belong
If I had to choose a church in US, based on Religious at the Mutual Interest Selector I should choose:
My #1 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Christian Denomination Selector, is Presbyterian Church USA My #2 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Christian Denomination Selector, is Methodist/Weslyian Church My #3 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Christian Denomination Selector, is Presbyterian Church in America/Orthodox Presbyterian Church My #4 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Christian Denomination Selector, is Reformed Baptist My #5 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Christian Denomination Selector, is Reformed Churches
I don't know any of the churches above, the only church I visited in US was Willow Creek Community Church, in Chicago. As you can see in my links besides, I may have selected churches a kind of away of those denominational debate (I am not church, I have not seen this kind of debate in those sites).
I had served Presbyterian church here in Brazil, now I am going to a Baptist one. As you have saw, I should have Presbyterian seeds inside.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Not only a crier
I have been liking a lot "Run with the horses", from Eugene Peterson, his language is not as difficult as I thought and he gave me a new perspective over Jeremiah. I think I ever read Jeremiah with the image of a crying prophet, and also a prophet not dare enough, because he once tried to convince God he shouldn't go ahead because of being too young.
However, he had a great change after this talking and becames a great reference for his age.
I have also learning about the reformation of Josiah, it is a moment I ever liked, a king that discover the word of God and promotes a reestablishment of the church, I have even preached about that a couple times. However, I didn't connect this reformation with the prophecies of Jeremiah, observing that we see only a surface reformation, people walking like God's people, talking like God's people but with the hearts away from him, worse, their hearts deeply attached to old religion.
I see a great connection between Jeremiah and our reality, here in Brazil we can see a very big growth of churches, but this has not impacted our society as much, I think sometimes we need prophets like Jeremiah that do not feel satisfied with the growth of number of churches and prophet to a sincere convertion of the heart and mind. We need people like Jeremiah that dare to tell things that confronted status quo of their church and also distrusted what was the commom message of them, which was far different of what God wanted.
However, he had a great change after this talking and becames a great reference for his age.
I have also learning about the reformation of Josiah, it is a moment I ever liked, a king that discover the word of God and promotes a reestablishment of the church, I have even preached about that a couple times. However, I didn't connect this reformation with the prophecies of Jeremiah, observing that we see only a surface reformation, people walking like God's people, talking like God's people but with the hearts away from him, worse, their hearts deeply attached to old religion.
I see a great connection between Jeremiah and our reality, here in Brazil we can see a very big growth of churches, but this has not impacted our society as much, I think sometimes we need prophets like Jeremiah that do not feel satisfied with the growth of number of churches and prophet to a sincere convertion of the heart and mind. We need people like Jeremiah that dare to tell things that confronted status quo of their church and also distrusted what was the commom message of them, which was far different of what God wanted.
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