Here are a few photos from the Perspectivas no Movemento Cristão Mundial intensive that we held a few weeks ago in Atibaia.
For those of you not familiar with Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, you can visit the website for more details. To call it a “missions” course, I think, minimizes not only the impact of this course, but its very nature as well. This course is about God. It is about His plan, His ways, and His Son Jesus Christ. What it is not about is becoming a missionary, going overseas, or neglecting local ministry.
Perspectives is literally being offered all the world. If you ever get a chance to take the course, do it! It will change the way you look at the world, at the church, and God.
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6 (note, this is God speaking to His Son Jesus)
A few months back, I was one of the lucky individuals to receive an invitation to the private Beta test of Evernote. For those of you who have not heard of Evernote and easy web clipping program. I do a lot of web surfing, , simply put, it is a fantasticresearching, and googling. Evernote has been a great help to organizing and being able to retrieve information from literally hundreds of websites. Evernote has both Mac and PC clients as well as a web bookmark that allows me to save a website by simply clicking on a bookmark in the toolbar of my Firefox browser. The open invite for the Beta will only be available until 9pm PST, so get it while you can.
Lately, I’ve been working on translations or talks and bible studies as well as developing my own set of testimonies and illustrations. All of which are being prepared in Portuguese. The process has been slow and very frustrating. Obviously, my native tongue, heart language, the way a I think, is all in English. Sometimes, many times, the phrases, points, fancy illustrations, etc… just don’t work in Portuguese. Or they lose some of their crispness that they had in English.
This of course is not to say the Portuguese language and the way Brazilians speak it, is lacking in anyway. Rather, I am lacking in almost every way in my ability to teach and preach. This is all par for the course and while frustrating, I am learning so much about communication that goes beyond simple the works we use. I am forced to ask myself, “is this worth saying?” “Does it really add to the message?” and “Is this worth the time and effort to translate?” More often than not, the answer is no.
Anyone who has heard me teach or speak probably knows that I often use 10 words when 1 would have done just fine. So this process of streamlining, cutting, removing, and selecting, I hope, is making me a better communicator.
With that said, I recently read and article by Joe Thorn, Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship outside of Chicago. His article, entitled “Before you preach,” lists the 5 major questions that he asks of himself and his message throughout the sermon preparation process. HE asks the questions in order to. “bring a sense of sobriety and urgency” to his preaching.
His five main questions are:
Does this message exalt the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Will people know what to do after hearing the message?
Am I saying anything that will distract from the point I am trying to make?
Do I, at any point, make much of myself in this sermon?
Would I like this to be the last sermon I ever preach?
(He goes in to greater detail on each point, so I highly encourage you to read the entire article.)
I have found that asking these questions that my selection process for what to say, what to translate, what to expend energy developing, is much more focused and straightforward. They help me stay focused on the message that Jesus Christ has a mission, a mission to Redeem the Nations. It’s not about me, it’s not about my ideas or even what I can and cannot say in the Portuguese language. It’s about Christ. Or as Mark Driscoll likes to say, “It’s all about Jesus, it’s only about Jesus, it’s always about Jesus.”
Well, it’s official… American Politics is a total joke. From TVGuide:
Clinton, Obama and McCain Wrestle for WWE Fans Vote
The rasslin’ ring is the latest stump stop. Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, along with GOP presidential hopeful John McCain, will bring their campaigns to WWE Monday Night Raw tonight (8 pm/ET, USA).
Each candidate will address the audience in a taped message. For Clinton and Obama, the hope is that tonight’s appearance could lead to a body slam in tomorrow’s Pennsylvania primary.
Somewhere in Oak Ridge Cemetery and Mt Vernon, a couple of bodies just did somersaults.
In honor of our girls turning 2 & 6 this week, I thought I would post this list from a recent Desiring God blog post. The post, entitled 10 Ways to Help Kids Love Missions, reminded me the importance of connecting Gabi & Isa to the work we are doing here. Often we forget that our kids did not have a choice to go to the mission field. They are, however, an integral part of what we are trying to instill in our Brazilian friends. A common “fear” for people considering the mission field is the concern of raising their family in a strange far off land. I beleive that the beter we can integrate family and our ministry of Mobilizing Brazilians, then the better our example to others.
I wnat to highlight number 7 on this list very quickly. The authors state:
7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field. As your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God says, “go,” release them to go!
This is probably the hardest one on the list, even for me. My little girls are far from leaving the nest, but the idea that they may one day choose the mission field scares me even now. Recently, Gabi has become fascinated with her Rand McNally Children’s Atlas. Published in 1989 and not the most accurate, she is noentheless facitnated with the pictures and descriptions of far off places (her favorite being Sweeden).
There are things we can do to help our kids love the nations and the cause of Christ, even though a heart and calling for the Great Commission is ultimately something only God can grant. Here are a few ideas from Ryan and Anna, who are currently preparing to serve in Asia with their two young daughters.
1. Pray for missionaries as a family. We keep a stack of prayer cards on the dinner table and rotate through them during mealtime prayers.
2. Read missionary biographies to your children. The stories of Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Gladys Aylward, and other missionary pioneers are captivating ways to orient a child’s heart on the most important things in life.
3.Draw the whole family intosupporting missionaries financially. Teach your kids from a young age that being a good steward of their money involves channeling resources toward the the cause of Christ in missions. Older kids can donate some of their lawn mowing and babysitting money. Younger children can earn money doing chores around the house which can be set aside for missionaries.
4. Find your child a missionary kid pen pal. Many children of missionaries around the world would be delighted to get mail from a child their age in their parent’s culture. Your child (and the whole family) will learn valuable insights about living abroad through the eyes of a child. Additionally, when the missionaries visit your church, your child will already have a relationship with the MK and will be able to include them more easily.
5. Entertain missionaries in your home. Inviting missionaries over will be as much of a blessing to your family as to the missionaries. Host them for dinner or for a whole furlough. Build or buy your house with this in mind.
6. Take risks as a family. There are ways to live life which help children grasp the reality that discomfort and suffering are normal and rewarding parts of the Christian experience. Volunteer at a rescue mission; house a single mother; move to the inner-city.
7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field. As your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God says, “go,” release them to go!
8.Teach your children to be world Christians. Don’t expose them to only the American perspective on news and realities around the world. Go out of your way to make them more aware than the average American Christian about geography, world history, and the plights and perspectives of people across the globe.
9. Read missionary prayer letters to your children. Ask them questions about the content and look up facts about the missionaries’ location on the Internet.
In about 45 minutes, April 1st will be upon us. In otherwords, for the next 24+ hours, we can’t believe anything we read on the internet. (Wait how is that different that every other day.) Anyway, some websites have already started the pranking. Over the past day, it seems like 25% of my RSS feed has been April Fools pranks. Here is a run down of a few:
Google Australia announced a new search feature called Gday whereby you can now search the future. I wonder what’s for lunch tomorrow?
Digg.com has been sold to FoxNews.com. (gotta be a geek to get that one)
The Australian tech website itwire reports that apple are releasing a pc version of mac os x in the Q3 of 2008 the article ended with the sentence “Despite the best efforts of iTWire, neither Steve Jobs nor Fake Steve Jobs could be contacted for further comment.” revelling the article to be just a prank.
Techcrunch has posted on Google’s New Wake Up Kit. You can know add wake up evens on your Google Calendar.
Google seems to have nothing better to do with their $450 stock price than come uo with April Fools Jokes. Now they have announced Virgle. A partnership with Virgin to start the first settlement on Mars and they are holding a YouTube contest to pick the settlers. If this means we can stick the most annoying YouTubers into a rocket and fire it into space… I say go for it! Video here.
*Update 2* This one is my favorite. Think Christian posted and article describing the ongoing process to elect an Evangelical Pope or “ePope.” The link to where you can vote goes straight to the Wikipedia April Fools Page. The last line is a classic:
Rob Bell was not invited to attend.
Be Blessed, Safe Pranking, and remember, don’t believe anything you read today….and maybe tomorrow too.
Look out Brazilian bad guys! The local Bragança Paulista Municipal Guard are now armed with brand new Segway x2 police editions! What does that mean for the local criminal element? Well, if you are a crook who frequents the Lake in the center of town and don’t have any for of transportation that moves faster than 12mph and you are not smart enough to run up one of the super steep hills that the Segways cannot climb AND you commit your crime in broad daylight when the lake area is the busiest, you just might be in trouble.
Here is a slideshow of the local police and their $6000 Segway x2’s in action!
On a more serious note, these things are ridiculously expensive and not very practical for Bragança. The base unit cost around $6000 US, and that is without any upgrades or extras. Furthermore, almost anything electronic or computerized costs double in Brazil. Our city could have easily paid over 20k for these two Segways. Considering that our local schools are a joke, the roads need work, and just the overall poverty of this country, I can’t help but wonder what they were thinking. This city is seriously hilly. Most of the streets are steep enough to warrant 1st gear. That means that these two Segways have a patrol areal that consists of one half 4km diamater lake.
All this said, I sooo want to take one for a ride!
Lately, I have come to realize that guilt is a horrible motivator. Trying to guilt a person into World Missions is not only ineffective, but I think un-Biblical. True compassion for the world stems from and understanding of God’s love for the Lost. It comes from a desire to be obedient. And just as importantly, it comes from a desire to see God’s fame and reputation grow (Isaiah 26:8).
With that said, I think it also prudent that we be aware of the world around us. I would pray that we be moved to action by the suffering, injustice, and tragedy that we see. While surfing the web today, I ran across a trailer for a film entitled “Glue Boys.”
Here is a short description:
In Kitale, Kenya, among countless other towns in the developing world, many street children have found an escape from their emotional and physical pains by becoming accidental consumers. Orphaned, barefoot, and malnourished, they habitually spend the scarce money they earn from odd jobs and charity not on food or water, but on a more immediate fix – glue – incidentally the same solvent-based kind that the wider world uses to cement shoes together. With plastic bottles perched at their mouths, the children breathe in the glue’s neurotoxic fumes until they pass out or fall asleep forever.
Sniffing, or “huffing” glue is a world wide problem. I remember when Liliam and I were on our honeymoon in Rio we saw a group of street children with rags pressed to their faces. Liliam explained that they were inhaling fumes from various chemicals (glue, gas, spray paint) in order to get high. Most were between the ages of 8-14. One girl was simultaneously breastfeeding a baby, huffing, and begging for handouts. All this was happening literally on the steps of one of Rio’s largest Catholic churches where at that very moment, church leaders were celebrating the “jubilee” with several hundred middle and upper class teenagers.
I hope that you will join with me in prayer for the children in this movie. Pray that God would raise up compassionate and loving laborers for harvest fields such as these.
Here is a short video I made of our new house. The quality is marginal. I used my digital camera to film it. But you should get a decent tour of the new place…mess and all!
Jason
We sang this song at our missions conference at Dallas Bible Church a few weeks back. I have always loved this song, but as we we sang it that day…I truly felt like I was worshiping with the all the Nations. The lyrics are just great. And don’t forget, Our God is a Global God. Worship is happening right now all over the world being expressed in many cultures ands in thousands of languages.
It's the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It's the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God's holy fire
It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a greatful choir
(CHOURS)
It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns
He reigns
It's all God's children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns
He reigns
Let it rise above the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
(BRIDGE)
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they've just heard
'Cause all the powers of darkness
Can't drown out a single word
(CHOURS)
When all God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns
He reigns
All God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns
He Reigns
All God's children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns
He Reigns
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