February 2010 Abide Gathering

Bev and Brian Weisblat are the best. They have opened their home for Abide gatherings for the last 5 years. Bev creates an environment that is so welcoming that our abide prayer partners and supporters just cannot resist her invitation to come for an evening.

This particular abide gathering was special in so many ways. The interest in abiding in Jesus moment by moment is growing as the American economic crisis goes on and on. There is a clear openness to seeing the Christian life as 100% Jesus in us.

These are exciting times for all of the Abide International community. Enjoy!

Surrendered Life-A Connection

"God orchestrates our circumstances to educate our faith" Oswald Chambers.
This has been my experience as a follower of Christ and as one who is learning to abide in Christ.
Every detail God orchestrates in my life leads to a deepening of my awareness of how generous God is to those who seek Him.
God orchestrated a new friendship for me in 2009. God introduced Pam and me to Dale and Tori Shows from Memphis, Tennessee.
God used a friend named to Jimmy Ervin to give Dale a message--"You need to talk to Bud McCord about the Surrendered Life."
Dale listened. Dale flew to Brazil and spent a week with us. Our hearts connected in Jesus and we are now enjoying the oneness that comes from surrendering to and abiding in Jesus.
In January of 2010 Dale officially launched his new ministry called Surrendered Life Ministries located in Memphis. He invited me to teach the Satisfying Life seminar as the new ministry's opening event. It was wonderful
Learning to see every detail as my faith education has been helping to see God in every detail.
God is purifying my heart. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."

Martinsville, Virginia-The Table

Over the past 4 years we have prayed that the Abide Message would take root in the lives of young leaders in the USA and around the world. Our prayers are being answered.
Mike and Katie Waddell returned to Martinsville, Virginia a little over a year ago. Pam and I visited them in January of 2009 just after they were getting settled in from spending nearly three years with Ken and Kellie McCord in San Francisco. Mike's vision was to initiate an abide dialog among the 516 churches that already exist in the Martinsville area.
Mike was born and raised in Martinsville and he has a deep passion for his generation and their connection to Jesus and to the needs of Martinsville.
In one short year Mike and Katie have seen the dialog about Christ in us be embraced by more than a dozen churches through the new ministry call The Table, Inc.
On Tuesday January 19th God allowed Pam and me to be the guests at the bi-weekly meeting of The Table. It was literally an opportunity to see the Abide Message taking root in Martinsville and in the younger generation.
Martinsville has suffered a nearly total economic meltdown but it is wonderful soil for delivering God's love.
Pray for Mike and Katie.

Abide Gathering-South Florida

When a group of believers gathers to celebrate the perfect presence of Jesus and the pure simplicity of the Christian life, joy is always present. Saturday evening at Bev and Brian Weisblat's home was no exception. Jesus was the center of the evening and He is the source of joy.

These simple gatherings are powerful and enjoyable. Knowing that the entire Christian life dwells in every believer allows for immediate equality and powerful connection.

Avoiding Hell

I have been following the Ft. Hood murders from Brazil. It is interesting to see the way these events are covered in another country. For most, americans are people who are suffering and need compassion. For some, americans are violent and in love with guns. For others, americans are a culture in decline. For a small few, americans are getting what they deserve.

One thing that never comes up in the news report concerning radical Islam here or from the USA is the question of hell and how a radical Muslim thinks he can avoid going there.

Most people in the USA hardly believe in hell these days. Even evangelical Christians hardly talk about hell. People in radical islam clearly believe in hell, talk about it repeatedly and want, at all costs, to avoid it.

I remember reading a comment from C.S. Lewis that I have never forgotten. He said that people in England and America stopped burning witches at the stake many years ago. For some this is a sign of human progress and enlightenment. For C.S. Lewis it was more a sign that people in the USA and England don't believe in witches any longer. He went on to say that a return to truly believing that the woman next door can curse and kill your children would start the fires sooner than we think.

I found it interesting that the man who killed the Fort Hood soldiers went to strip clubs before he went on his killing spree. Here is a man who is desperately trying to please God and end up in heaven. Even so he is taking his last moments indulging in behavior his religion condemns. This man is in trouble if he does not find a way to cover his sins.

What this says to me is that this man was down to his last hope of heaven which would be to kill God's enemies to prove his worth to God and guarantee heaven instead of hell. He could not live up to his religions basic laws against lust and liquor so only a radical action of submission to his God could guarantee heaven.

I don't think we will understand radical Islam until we understand that they truly believe in hell and we as a culture in the west do not. If we believed in hell like they do and we thought the only way for those desperately trying to avoid it was killing God's enemies, I believe we would be surprised just how quickly the gun sales would go up in the west.

When the choice in man's mind is heaven or hell and not just the USA against its enemies, you can be sure people who believe in hell will choose avoiding hell and going to heaven over an oath to defend their nation.

Abide Retreat in English

We have just completed our very first english Abide Retreat in Brazil. It was wonderful and very strange. Teaching here in English seemed so out of place for me.

Brazilians love to learn. When you offer a great spiritual retreat about abiding and add the opportunity to perfect a second language, Brazilians get interested very fast.

I never cease to be amazed at how open Brazilians are to spiritual things. They make significant sacrifices to add to their spiritual lives by learning new things. I am am spoiled by how easy they are to teach.

I am praying that my dear american brothers and sisters in Christ will begin to invest more seriously in spiritual formation, too. It seems at times that my friends in the USA are too busy to make the investment in a two day retreat. That is sad and I am praying the day will come when taking two days to focus on Jesus as our true Vine will be seen a a great investment.

Consider this example. We had four people attend this retreat that came from southern Brazil. They took a ten hour all night bus ride and then another 1 and 1/2 hour bus ride just to get to the retreat. As I am writing this blog they are on a bus for another all night ride back. They have to work tomorrow when they get back to the city of Londrina. One of them was 73 years old! She has a class to teach tomorrow morning at 9:30 A.M. (This lady is near the center of the group photo on the front row)

This kind of effort is humbling and inspiring. I believe God is at work here in people's hearts in a very deep way. Pam and I are so thankful to see this moment in Brazil. We are also burdened for our dear USA. So much pain and so much anger. Our prayer is that we will all abide.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Caixias do Sul--Southern Brazil

I am just completing an abide weekend in the very beautiful city of Caixias do Sul in the southernmost part of Brazil. I am almost in Argentina.

This is Brazil's vineyard country. The church that invited me has only 70 members but they were so excited to learn about abiding that I accepted their invitation. I am glad I did. Over 50% of the member spent the weekend doing the Abide course with me and we have experienced a wonderful time.

I never cease to be amazed at how powerful it is to tell people that the entire Christian life they will ever live already abides in them. When this thought takes root, it is truly powerful for changing how a believer sees their potential. Nothing makes this more clear than John 15. It is an honor to tell thousands, to tell dozens or to tell one. The joy is the same.

These folks understand vineyards far better than I do! They took me on a tour today. I have a lot to learn. I am already making plans to come back very soon.