Rio--Protected by sustained love

Rio, the marvelous city as the Brazilians call it, is a city of enormous contrasts, conflicts and challenges. In this city much has changed and much as stayed the same.
The city is home to over 200 slums called "favelas". Some of these "favelas" are over 60 years old. They are home to millions and they are now so entrenched into the fabric of Rio's day to day life that they will always be part of this complex social fabric.
On June 1st and 2nd I was invited by the Evangelical Assembly of God church of Bom Successo to help them celebrate their 50th anniversary. It was an honor.
The abide ministry is rooted in the First Baptist Church of São José dos Campos. Even so, I have been given an opportunity to minister in many Brazilian denominations. Why? Because I have determined to know only Christ and Christ crucified. In other words, I believe I have been called to help all Christian rediscover their first and only love--Jesus.
While in Rio with the church Pastor Jaime Suarez took me to see six of their 50 congregations. Most of these congregations are in the slums. Some of these congregations are as old as the slums. Some have memberships of over 500.
We had to enter the slums in the church van. Pastor Jaime instructed me to look straight ahead and not make eye contact the with young men standing guard at the entrances to slums. They were armed with rifles, handguns and machine guns. They are drug gangs that literally control the slums. We could only enter, because the church is welcome but the police are not.
It was like going into a war zone.
Once inside the "favela" we visited the beautiful, clean and happy congregations. For over 50 years these churches have served their community with Jesus' love. Inside the slum it didn't seem important to me that I was with Pentecostal brothers even though I am not pentecostal. I was protected by their sustained love for Jesus and for the people of the slum. I was safe in their sustained love for these incredibly poor but precious people.
I have deep respect for doctrine, but I have greater respect for doctrine that is turned in to sustained love.
Enjoy a few pictures from Rio. Be proud of the love of your brother's in Christ. Jesus is so very proud of them!

(The tiny shack pictured is home to mom, dad and 7 kids. Mom is pregnant again. The church is helping them as they are new arrivals in the slum. Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Crops and Barns

In Luke 12 we have recorded one of Jesus' parables. A rich man is doing so well at accumulating crops, that he says..."What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?" On the surface this seems to be a great problem to have and a completely normal question to ask. In reality this question reveals the sad state of this man's heart. He actually thinks he is blessed by the earth and the Creator of the earth to bless himself and in so doing find rest for his soul.

What could he have done with the abundance that had come into his hands from God's earth? He could have asked God why he had more than he needed. He could have asked God who needed what he had received. He could have seen the abundance as a sign that His ability to bless others had increased. He could have asked God, but he chose to ask himself. Big mistake.

Getting the answer from his own fearful mind, he tears down his existing barns and builds new ones to calm his soul. Then he dies and his soul is judged for its behavior on earth. He loses his soul. This is what will happen to every human being sooner or later. Our souls will be required of us and we will have no argument other than what we did with our soul--our mind, emotions and will.

The human soul was originally designed to receive and deliver love's abundance. When we have in our possession the means to bless others and we decide to build new barns instead, we offend the very nature of our souls and the nature of the universe.

In this parable, even the earth is smarter than this man. The earth that produced the crops for this man was generous with what it produced. The earth delivers what it produces over and over again into this man's hands. The man who produced nothing and received everything should have said "Who can I love with this?" Since he did not see the crops as being received by grace, he concluded that he had produced the wealth himself and could do with it whatever he pleased.

If he had asked about who should be loved with this, certainly God would have led him to care for his most intimate relationships first just as the earth is generous with all who live from its wealth and lets those who work the land eat first. Beyond caring well for his family, this man would have then been led into a life of generosity and love toward others. His soul would have been resting as he delivered what he received. Receiving much and delivering well allows the soul to rest

When you are blessed be careful not to seek rest for your soul through the building of bigger barns. Build bigger relationships through delivering love. Trust that the Creator will be contiinuously generous to you as you continue to be generous to others. If we can trust the earth to keep producing crops, we can certainly trust the Creator to keep taking care of us.

Worth the Effort

The trip to China was a major effort in so many ways. At times such an effort can leave one wondering about the cost and about the effort. It only takes some word from those to whom we ministered to make the effort seem worthwhile.

Here is a word I got this morning. I am not going to correct the english errors. The person writing is a very, very sharp business leader who leads a major company and a person who has paid a great price for living their faith. This is from a believer who knows Jesus deeply and knows her way around the corporate world.

As you read her words rejoice with us that the book The Satisfying Life has found a place in the hearts of those who need it.
The e-mail was addressed to the Chinese friend who was my guide in China and also responsible for the translation of the book into Chinese.

Dear brother Shu Su Yee;

RE: THE SATISFYING LIFE

I NEED SPEND LOTS TIME TO READ IT DUE TO ALL THE MESSAGE FOR ME REALLY IS GOD SPEAK TO ME

LOTS THINKING ----THE TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK IN CHINESES IT'S REALLY WONDERFUL COULDN;T BELIEVE IS FIRST TIME

YOU USED THIS MATERIAL IN CHINESES

THIS BOOK CAN HELP LOTS PEOPLE I AM GOING TO ASK ALL MY BIBBLE STUDY READ SLOWLY AND DISCUSSING THIS BOOK SLOWLY TOO ( THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR ALL THE CHRIST LOTS FAITH AND LOTS OF TEARS)

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL YOUR WORK IN CHINA I WILL REPORT AGAIN DUE TO I AM READ IS NOT BOOK IS GOD WORDS TALK TO ME AND TOUCH MY HEART I NEED TIME ABSORB ALL THE WORDS

THANK YOU FOR YOU COMING OUR BIBBLE STUDY

BEST REGARDS

BECKY


Trying to communicate across a language barrier is exactly what makes these efforts so difficult. Even so, a letter like this one makes it all worth the effort.

For those who supported this effort--It was worth it! For those who are supporting the same effort in Brazil, Portugal. Angola and other places--it is worth the effort.

Lost in Translation

I visited a 1000 year old Pagoda today in China. The thing I will long remember about the Pagoda was the translation on the wall that was trying to tell all English speakers not to drop things from the open windows and not to smoke. If you don't think trying to learn another language is a challenge, take a look at the translations.
The pagoda is old China. The bullet train is the new China.

Obvious

I should have known. I should have known that Christians are designed by their new birth to live and thrive anywhere in the world. Governments don't make Christians thrive. Why am I surprised?

I think my early childhood in the USA with daily prayer and Bible reading in the public schools made me believe that Christianity was supported and expanded by the USA public culture and government. Actually the USA culture and government was supported and blessed by so many Christians in the land. Governments do not support or sustain Christianity, God does through Christ. I should have known.

Being in a place where there is 0% support for the Christian or Christianity makes one clearly see that God's branches truly only need the Vine to thrive. I should have known!

What Christians need is the peace to be who they are in Jesus wherever they live. Vineyards need peaceful environments to thrive and bless. Whenever any government is wise enough to encourage Christians just to be who they are, that culture will be blessed by the Christians who call that country home.

I should have known what I would see as I travel the world. Christians are designed to bear fruit in every country. Thank God they do!

New Abide Materials

One of the most gratifying accomplishments of the past 4 years has been the development of discipleship resources in the Portuguese language. Each project has been a labor of love and a lot of work. Each project has been a team effort involving contributors, translators, artists and volunteers.

Rejoice with us that we could present these materials in our own space at a recent pastor's conference. They were well received and will impact many, many lives for years to come.

Thanks for your part in this!

Bud

Twitter

I began "twittering" because my son Kevin encouraged me to join this newest communication tool. I am glad I did. I am resisting being old and out of touch. It is a challenge!

I am mostly enjoying the immediate connection to people I love that twitter affords. On the other hand, I am becoming increasingly concerned about some people I follow. Having been at this thing called life for a while, I can see patterns of thought and activity in the comments I read. I almost feel like I am the proverbial "fly on the wall". At times it is almost embarrassing to know so much about a person's moment by moment world. In some cases twitter posts seem like an ongoing Oprah show.

Here is what I am noticing that concerns me most. Many married men I follow seem to be focused almost exclusively on their work, hobbies and outside the home relationships. That may be only because they don't use twitter as a place to talk about family.
I am not sure. I certainly hope I am wrong.

If what I read on their "tweets" is the true picture of what they find most stimulating, their marriages and homes may be in trouble and I almost want to intervene with a comment or two.

If I did talk, here is what I would probably say.

1. Since you talk constantly about food, take your wife to lunch with you once in a while and be excited about it. Mention her.
2. Get as excited about your kids as you do about the latest Apple product or film you just saw.
3. Share a thought about your life that shows some depth of thought beyond "I am eating at..." or "I just saw..."
4. Don't be ashamed to tweet your faith if it provides you with joy.

Do I sound old and out of touch? Go ahead. Send a "tweet" or a facebook comment. I am connected.
By the way.... Happy Mother's day to my beautiful wife Pam. Let's do lunch when I get back from China. Ate at Pizza Hut in Shanghai today. I love all my "Kids."
Bud

Marriage Seminar-Recife

Many times the very first opportunity we have for Abide International ministries to become known in a new city is through our Marriage seminar "Six Metaphors of a Happy Marriage". I accept nearly every invitation to help couples build marriages that reveal God's presence in the world.

An invitation from Recife in northern Brazil came from an evangelical Anglican Church. For me this was a first. I found the people of the Holy Spirit Parish of Recife to be deeply in love with Jesus and reaching their community. They also produced a seminar attendance with over 200 couples present for the six hour study.

They have now asked me to come to Recife twice a year to train their people in abiding discipleship. This church is amazing in so many ways. God keeps surprising me and blessing me as I find Him at work everywhere.

I have learned that different Christian groups do not have the same doctrines on every subject but they have the same problems I have seen my entire life in Baptist churches. I believe abiding is what we all are missing.

These pictures show just a little of joy I found among these dear Brazilian believers.

A Day Off

Missionaries do take days off. They should! Then they can see the beauty of the country where God has led them to share His love.

Pam and I spent a wonderful day with Tom and Diana Turley in an area of Brazilian natural beauty. To me a day off is a day when one makes no decisions and simply enjoys God and the good things of God. That includes good friends and great natural beauty.

Yesterday we enjoyed both.

It Doesn't work

Jesus said "Do not resist and evil person." Why? Because it doesn't work. Resistance is not a cure for evil.
Governments exist to punish evil and reward good. (see Romans 13) Punishing evil is appropriate when one has this power from God to do so. Resisting evil in the name of Jesus is not my job. Overcoming evil with good is.

Of almost all the teachings of Jesus this one about resisting an evil man is the one with which I struggle most. I guess I just don't want to admit that evil is beyond the reach of my powers of persuasion. Evil is overcome by love. Love is not resistance. Love is a cooperation with God's character.

God will judge but He is not resisting. He gives mankind up to follow their evil to its horrible ends. When man is finally exhausted He offers rest in Christ.

Later on in His teachings Jesus says to Peter "They that live by sword die by the sword." The sword is the symbol of the belief that evil can overcome by force. It cannot. I pray that Jesus will remove my sword more each day.

The Power of Culture

Every missionary is familiar with the term "culture shock". Culture shock is the sudden, shocking realization that one is now living in an environment that one cannot change. One must adapt or try to live in cultural enclave of made up of others who refuse to adapt. Ethnic neighborhoods in major cities are efforts to avoid culture shock and maintain what one finds most comfortable.

I was born and raised in Miami in the 1950's. Miami in the 1950's was a quiet southern city. In the early 1960's the Cuban exodus from Cuba to Miami began and so did the the exodus out of Miami of many southern Americans like my parents who refused to adapt to the changing culture in order to stay in the downtown Miami area. Many Cubans also refused to adapt to their new American home and they created "Little Havana" which now shares space with "Little Haiti". No one likes culture shock and many avoid it all costs.

Culture shock is no fun if one prefers one culture above another. We almost always prefer the culture of our childhood and youth to any new culture. Once we get used to a culture we would rather not see it change.

The entire world is experiencing a kind of culture shock and resistant groups are busily building ethnic, religious and social enclaves to protect themselves from the cultural changes. Radical Islam's insistence on isolation and control is a case in point.

From my experience as a child growing up in Miami and as a missionary, I believe the answer to culture shock lies in building an inner life that is fully rooted in the culture of God's kingdom. There is little hope of preserving the culture of one's earthly childhood in today's rapidly changing world. There is hope of preserving the inner culture of one's new birth in Jesus.

Jesus was in the world but not of the world. He was here to love but he was not here to join any ethnic or religious group in their special enclave. He was invited to join, but he refused.

Jesus was here to invite the world to join the eternal culture he describes in His teaching as the Kingdom of God. Have you joined Jesus' Kingdom of God culture?

If not, I predict you are going to experience culture shock on a global scale in the coming years. Moving away from this coming culture shock like my parents did will not be possible in the coming years. Jesus' offer of a new birth and kingdom culture is still the very best option because they equip us for living anywhere and living well.

When Jesus said he had overcome the world, He meant it. Be at peace in your inner world with Him and you will find the ability to love in any culture.

He is at the Movies

I have been mentoring a young man for the past three years. I have never known a person with a greater capacity to disappear into his mind for weeks on end. It is amazing to watch him come and go.

One minute he is in touch with reality and he is learning to abide and walk in the light. Suddenly, something happens and he literally disappears into a world of imagination. When he emerges from this inner world of fiction, he seeks me out and we work while he is still among the visible.

I am certain God has gifted this young man with an imagination that is beyond the norm. He can create in his mind a realm that could produce great novels or movies. Even so, he suffers with this imagination because one cannot live from fiction and effectively deliver God's love. He knows this.

He said to me with true sorrow. "I didn't even give my dog a bath for the past month! I was so lost in mind that i forgot. When i finally realized I had been gone, I gave the dog some attention."

When he said this, I said "It is time for you to come out of the movie theater. People need you and God misses you while you are in there."

It was as if a light went on. He could see for the first time that he was disappearing into his mind like people go to the movies for distraction from reality. What he had not realized is that while we sit in the movie theater of our mind and imagination, love is often put on hold. If love is on hold for too long, the fleas can kill the dog.

Jesus is the truth. He is the light in which the fiction we build our lives upon is challenged and destroyed.

I remember reading about missionaries going overseas in the 1800's. The debate back then was about whether a good Christian missionary should be reading novels. When I was a teen, the debate was about T.V. and movies. Today it is about the internet, video games and the cell phone. The real issue in any generation is how long do you disappear from reality and leave love on hold?

I am a dedicated reader and I love a great film. I have found, however, that my rule for reading and watching must be delivering love.
If my imagination gets in the way of delivering love, I need to drop the book and leave the movie. God misses me and so does someone else.

How much of your life is immersed in fiction? Bring every thought to Christ to be sure what is and is not fiction. I am not against imagination. I am against letting others suffer while I disappear.

Pray for my young friend that his imagination will be God's tool and not an escape. He is a wonderfully gifted young man.

April Retreat-Campos do Jordão

The heart of the abide ministry in Brazil is our retreat center in the mountains between Rio and São Paulo. There truly is a connection between mountains and clearer thinking.

When we can gather 30 to 40 people at our retreat center from a Friday night until a Sunday afternoon, amazing things happen.
By spending eight hours focused on Jesus as our life, identity, satisfaction, ability and opportunity, we experience what it is to be one with the intentions of God in Christ. We learn better what it means to abide. It is powerful and paradigm changing.

Admittedly, it is easier to abide when one is in a retreat designed to keep the focus on Jesus. The valley of "dailyness" awaits us all at the end of the retreat but Christ in us is greater than the valley and its repetitive challenges.

Our April abide retreat was truly wonderful. Our four volunteers, the leaders of the camp and the great cooks were all at their best.
The teacher did O.K., too!

Enjoy these photos of the April retreat and remember that this is possible because of our abide partners who support this ministry every month.

A special thanks to every church and every abide partner for making this possible. If you are not an abide partner yet, join this fantastic team as we are believing God for 300 retreat participants in 2009 in addition to all the other efforts that go into Abide international.

E-mail me at bud@abideinternational.org to let us know you are on the team or for more information. Donations can be sent to our sending church in Miami through our website www.abideinternational.org.

Why not plan a retreat near your church? We would love to come even if there are no mountains.

The Human Soul

I have come to understand that the human soul (mind, emotions and will) was originally designed for one holy purpose. That holy purpose is the Glory of God. The Glory of God was originally meant to be revealed in this world by human souls and bodies.
Only one man ever possessed and used his soul 100% for the glory of God. That man never sinned by using His soul for any other purpose except love. That man is named Jesus.

The human soul exists in the universe as the living tool for delivering God's love. The human soul as originally created had no other reason for its existence except the delivery of God's love. This continues to be its true reason for existence.

This noble purpose of the human soul explains why Jesus said the true and final purpose of a human existence is to love God and love one's neighbor. To sin is to use any part of the human soul (mind, emotion or will) l for any other purpose other than delivering God's love. When one sees the soul in this holy and singular light, it is easy to see why Scripture says "For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God". Romans 3:23 Who among us could truly say "I have only used my soul for love."?

When a person is "born again" the very Spirit of God and God's glory enters the human spirit and this Spirit to spirit connection recreates the possibility of a human soul being constantly connected to pure love. This constant connection to pure love allows the soul to deliver God's love once again. This is what is called the "fruit of the Spirit."

The human soul without the very presence of God is incapable of delivering love that God finds acceptable and He could call HIs own love. Paul tried to deliver such love by His love of the law of God as he describes in Romans 7. He concluded that he could not deliver sustained love because sin dwelled in Him and stopped the proper use of the soul.

In Romans 8 Paul describes a new life because the believer is now inhabited by Christ. The soul can love again in a way that God finds acceptable because it is God who produces and sustains the love by His grace which now abides in the human spirit and stimulates and enables the human soul to love again.

Jesus described in John 15 this remaking of the human ability to love as abiding and bearing fruit. Each person in whom Christ abides has the potential to have their soul restored to its original holy purpose. Even so, it is a voluntary relationship which allows the soul to become the divine tool of love once again. "If" we will abide then our souls will be restored to love's delivery and God's glory. Only "if" we abide will this happen.

Read the sermon on the mount in the light of the soul's true purpose and you will see that the human soul will have to undergo a complete restoration in Christ until it becomes "salt" and "light" in a very dark world. As hard as it might be to believe, our souls can be restored to love in this world. As Mike Wells says "There is nothing the presence of Christ cannot cure."

The thought of millions and millions of restored human souls delivering God's love as Jesus did is the true essence of making disciples and spiritual formation. When we set the discipleship "bar" lower than soul restoration for Divine glory, we weaken the witness of the church and we fail our Lord who commanded us to make disciples.

Our souls can be restored to delivering God's love if we will abide in the love of God in Christ. This is the truth which Jesus revealed by His own presence in the world. Rise to the vision of sustained love and God's glory. Be truly human again. Abide.

The Ordinary Man or Woman

Here is Thomas Kelly's description of the ordinary man.

"The ordinary man is busy earning a living, exercises care, caution, foresight. He calculates probabilities. He studies the past in order to predict and control the future. Then when he has weighed all his factors and plotted the outcome, with energy and industry he wills himself into persistent activity along the lines of calculated wisdom. The now is merely an incidental dividing point, unstable, non-important, except as by its unstaying migration we move ahead into the richer meadows..."

Ordinary men and women get a lot done, but at too great an expense. They sacrifice all the "nows" in order to arrive at some "then". The "then" finally arrives and the ordinary man or woman suddenly realizes that "then" is really always "now". "Then" is always beyond our reach. Now is not.

Learn to enjoy now. Learn that now is as rich as it gets. Learn to sit still and be filled with God's presence right now.

Now is limitlessly enjoyable and it is always now. Right now close your eyes and say "Jesus, you are welcome here." Don't rush away to earn a living, exercise care, caution or foresight. Don't calculate probabilities. Don't study the past or the future.
Enjoy now.

Don't be ordinary. Enjoy now with Him.

When you learn to enjoy now, your life will be anything but ordinary.


For further reading on now get a copy of Thomas Kelly's A Testament to Devotion

The "haves" and the "have nots"

I recently spent a weekend in the wealthiest neighborhood of São Paulo. From my hotel window I could see some of the city's finest neighborhoods where some of Brazil's wealthiest citizens live in mansions and huge apartments.

I could also see from my window one of São Paulo's largest slums. The slum is home to 80,000 people crammed onto a hillside right in the middle of the luxury apartment complexes. Anyone who has been to Brazil has seen this shocking contrast of the "haves" and the "have nots".

The pastor who was my host for the weekend described the slum as an unsolvable social problem. Begun by people immigrating from grinding poverty in northern Brazil, this slum was first built by people just looking for a chance to work. That is no longer the case.

As we looked out on this unbelievable scene I suddenly saw something else. I saw the last 500 years of Brazilian history and a vision of the direction our world seems to be heading. For the last 500 years Brazil has been a land of the "haves" and the "have nots".

It seems that our world is now heading into a time where socialism is seen as the great hope for the world. For me in particular this is not a happy thought. I remember how proud my father was of not needing the government to take care of him. All he wanted was a chance for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. His example burned deeply into my heart and soul and so did my USA 1950s childhood, I have never wanted the government to take care of me. I just wanted a fair chance. I got that fair chance in my 1950s America even though millions of black Americans around me did not.

In my view, socialism is a a willingness of people to see and accept government as their solution. In a very real sense socialism is the greater mass of humanity believing that the government should take care of them because the government has what they do not have. Since they, the governing class, have so much they should take care of those who don't have. My father would have choked on the idea that the government has what he needs. He did not want the government to take care of him. He wanted the government to guarantee his safety and opportunity not take care of him.

The slums in Brazil are a scream for help and also a terrible form of dependence. Rich neighborhoods and the slums that surround them live in a very strained and uneasy relationship. There is a very real sense that the two worlds could explode at any second. They often do.

In the Brazilian slums most things are free. Water, electricity, internet, cable, etc. are free in most slums. In reality they are stolen and everyone has to go along with this or the 80,000 people on the hill might get out of control. There is a very real sense of guilt that is felt by the "haves." The "have nots" know this and have become a powerful political force which now threatens to take control of all the wealth by force if there is not a transfer of the wealth to a new governing class called a socialist government.

If socialism wins the day, I predict the slums will not disappear. The slums will surround the neighborhoods where the government leaders live instead of surrounding the capitalist leaders neighborhoods. Nothing will really change except who composes the rich class and lives in the best neighborhoods.

As bad as the slums are, most people who live in them resist being relocated unless all the "Free" benefits are guaranteed in the new place. It is complicated! If you ever visit the city of Rio, the best views of the beaches are from the slums. It is almost too strange to describe. One has to see it to believe it. Who would want to give up such a view for a tiny apartment away from the beach and an two hour bus ride to work?

Here is my point. I reject the socialist theory simply because I don't believe any human beings were meant to live with a "please someone take care of me!" mentality. This mentality kills the human soul in every way. I believe the right mentality is "please guarantee my opportunity to find my space to live and love."

What does this have to do with Christians? I believe that much of what passes for Christianity today is also becoming a form of "slum" Christianity.
The spiritual "haves" let the spiritual "have nots" live close to them in church because they are so permanently needy. The "haves" tolerate the "have nots" because they realize they will always be needy. They also need the cheap help to keep the spiritual gated communities running. That may sound harsh, but I have seen firsthand the deadening effects of the rich Christians and the poor Christians in what I call "pyramid" churches.

This uneasy "haves" and "have nots" relationship is not good for anyone-especially the leaders. I believe we need communities of equals in Jesus. We need vineyards not luxury apartment buildings overlooking the pitiful poor. We need communities where we are one with God and one with each other. By abiding I believe we have hope for this in our churches. I believe this problem does have a solution. That solution is called "oneness".

I don't know if there can ever be "oneness" in Brazil. There wasn't "oneness" for everyone in South Florida when I grew up but there was a spirit of healthy independence from the "haves". That was a start!

There can and must be oneness in the church. I believe we must resist every kind of spiritual environment that exalts some and makes others the permanently dependent ones. We are all branches and there is only one Vine.

Brazil may need to head for socialism in order to avoid a bloodbath, but the church needs to head to oneness because the blood of One was already shed. I have hope for the church. The world? That is another question.

What Should Christians be Good At?

I continue to be amazed at the Christian community's desire to appear better at things than non-believers. Is being better at baseball, music, politics or anything else a sign of Christian life? I don't think so.

What we should be good at is being loved and loving. We should be the world's best at uninterrupted love.

I remember this thought coming home to me the first time through the writings of Francis Schaeffer in his book The Mark of the Christian. He was the first that showed me that the Christian's credibility is found in sustained love just like Jesus said it was.

What if we focused on this one ability as our societal calling and the true basis our our witness? Would we lose all the abilities we engage in while focusing on being really good at love? No. Love needs a context. Any skill taken seriously is a context for sustained love.

I have been on this Christian journey for quite a while. I have seen every kind of ability celebrated when a Christian is involved.
I have also noticed that we don't quite know how to celebrate the same ability displayed by an unbeliever. Perhaps we don't want them to be so good at baseball, music, politics or anything else. Why? We are basing our hope on Christians being better at things because they are Christians. Should we focus on being better at these things or focus on being really good at uninterrupted love while doing these things?

I have come to the conclusion that Jesus was perfect at uninterrupted love. As far as I know, he never tried to be good at anything else to prove His point. Let's be good at love as we do our sports, music and politics. That makes a great combination and it protects what really matters which is great relationships.

Abide Retreat March 2009

It is early morning March 15th and we are getting near the end or our March Abide Retreat in the mountains of Brazil. This group of 34 is such an interesting mix of people. What they all have in common is a passion to be like Jesus. I wish all of our friends could experience a retreat with us here! Catch a plane and come.

Father forgive them!

I have always been amazed by these words spoken by Jesus as He was being crucified "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." I think I could spend an entire day in the light of those words. I don't get all of what those words mean but I do get the big picture of what God was doing in Christ that day.

Most of the people with whom we interact every day do not get any of what God is doing. That is why they do not get what we are doing either.

In the Message edition of the Scriptures we read these words in John 3.

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.


I often want the world to take me as seriously as God takes me. I want the world to truly get what I am up to. They get me so wrong at times.

I watch the conservative news channels on cable here in Brazil and I watch Christians getting so frustrated because America doesn't get it! Can America living apart from God get it? Can Brazilians living apart from God really get why I am in Brazil?

To be like Jesus is to do what we do without expecting people to get it and affirm it.
I know that is hard, but the words "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" will come in handy if a really bad day in your world comes along.

Crucified by Christians

I remember reading somewhere a quote that has stayed with me even though I want it to go away. Here it is. Read it at your own risk. "When God wants to really love someone, someone gets crucified."
I warned you.

What I didn't count on when I read that quote was that it would come true over and over again in my own experience. And what makes it even worse is that many of the crucifixions I have witnessed have been Christians crucifying Christians. Some of my own crucifixions have been carefully executed by believers.

Delivering God's love is not for the faint at heart. Love of a certain quality is only delivered by painful betrayal and false accusations. Read the life stories of some of God's most famous saints and you will find than many of them were crucified by Christians. Even so, a great kind of love lingers in the world for centuries because of their crucifixions.

I have no idea what it is that makes us want to judge others and put an end to another's reputation or life, but it runs deep in all of us--including me. We take a kind of perverse pleasure in finding others to be less than we find ourselves to be.

When I teach the Satisfying LIfe course I often ask the group if they think God really loved His Son Jesus. They always answer "yes!" Then I ask "If so, would you want to be treated like His Father treated Him?" There is usually a very uneasy silence and few volunteers.

When God wants someone to be truly loved, someone will suffer for that to happen. I think that is what Cross-bearing is about.

Sometimes when I bring this up in a teaching setting someone will ask "Doesn't having great faith shield us from pain?" That is a popular thought here in Brazil. I respond by saying "Have you ever read who it was that gave faithful Job's address to the Devil?"

I do want to love like Jesus did. I really do. I just struggle with this quote when it is my turn to deliver such love.

Please forget you heard this quote from me! Blame anonymous.

Mom and Dad

I remember hearing Chris Matthews for MSNBC describe the Democrats and Republicans in the following manner.
"Democrats are the party of mom. Republicans are the party of Dad" He went on to say that the debates and elections were a family argument in action. He said the the party of mom was the party that always looks for a reason to not give up on people. The party of dad wants people to get a life. I think he got it right.

Brazil is a matriarchal society. The entire social structure of Brazil is based on the fact that women are more consistent and trustworthy than men. Men have urges they cannot control. Women have to hold the world together because men won't. Mary is more respected here than Jesus. The way this works out in practical life is often comical and, at times, disastrous.

A Matriarchal society is, on the surface, a forgiving, accepting society. It is a society that has no death penalty, short prison stays and a belief that men just cannot control their basic urges. Women must be the anchor in the matriarchal society. While Brazil has no death penalty and prison stays are almost never more than a few years, over 700 people were killed while being arrested last year in Rio de Janeiro. Men can't control their urges so both sides of the drug war are killing non-stop. What they can count on is that the moms will be there for them no matter what they do.

God made male and female for a reason. They balance each other in their view of reality. The great thing about the USA is that the Protestant roots of the USA produced a society of dad and mom. Protestants abandoned the idea that men cannot control their urges. They called men to responsibility and they punished the giving in to urges.

I love Brazil. I love the way Brazilians deal with life. Even so, I wish for the day that Brazilian dads would come to Jesus and assume masculine responsibilities.

I love the USA. I pray that the political structure will remain mom and dad. Right now it looks to me like mom is concluding she needs to take care of everyone since men's urges can't be controlled. A single parent USA would be tragic.

Morality or Identity

Which do you think is more powerful, a system of right and wrong or an identity rooted in true life?

Which statement is most powerful. "That is wrong. Don't do that." or "That is not you. It doesn't fit you."

Jesus said he came to give us life not morality. Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life, not a superior system of right and wrong. Jesus was constantly concerned about pleasing His Father and reflecting His true identity as one with the Father.

Paul said "For to me to live is Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me."

Right and wrong does not work. Right and Wrong is not what God is after. God is after joining His life to us so we live from His life the way Jesus did. I don't believe Jesus spent any time at all thinking about right and wrong. I believe He was simply being Himself full of grace and truth.

When I am in a place where I want to be impatient or aggressive, I can say "This is wrong. Don't do it." Or I can say "This is not consistent with my Christian life--Jesus in me. Jesus be my patience and my kindness." I have tried both. Identity and Life trump right and wrong. Right and wrong is the fruit of a tree we should avoid.

I guess we should have seen that identity is more powerful than morality when God said "I am that I am" and Jesus said "I always do that which pleases my Father." Jesus was not trying to be good. He was good because He is good.

The next time you are wondering if you should do something or not, ask "Is this the real me?" instead of asking "Is this right or wrong." If your identity is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" you will immediately know that impatience and aggression just don't fit you. Put on kindness and gentleness. They fit you and they are in you right now.

Conversion

Not everyone has an explosive conversion experience. I did.
I was 16 years old and I had been in church off an on since the death of my father when I was 10 years old. I had experienced some level of faith in Jesus but I was certainly not free to enjoy my relationship with HIm.

On the evening of October 22, 1967 I received Jesus in His fulness. It was an explosion of light and joy. I had been working at being a Christian. When I stopped working at receiving Jesus and simply received Him, the light and joy came.
I literally sang all the way home that night as I drove my little VW bug down the Hollywood, Florida streets. People must have thought I was crazy.

Today I believe what I was experiencing that night was not just the explosion of my conversion that was meant to pass. I was experiencing the generous presence of Jesus in my life. Jesus came into my spirit and my soul was at rest and rejoicing. Believe it or not, I was given a taste of what it means to live the Christian life each day. It was a taste of what happens when a human being is receiving from God's generosity and grace. On that one glorious night I was enjoying a barrier-free relationship with Jesus with no effort of my own except being focused fully on Jesus.

In Colossians 2:6,7 Pauls writes "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude."

I experienced this verse on the night of my conversion. Tragically, I was not "instructed" and therefore the "overflowing with gratitude" stopped soon after my conversion. I assumed the "overflowing with gratitude" was a once in a lifetime event.

As Mike Wells says in his wonderful book Heavenly Discipleship "Most Christians can rapidly list five things they need to do for God. However, very few can list five things God is doing for them." The first Sunday after my conversion I was given the list of what I needed to do for God. It was far longer than 5 items! It was many years later that I realized that what matters is what God is willing to do for me through Jesus the Vine that makes me overflow with gratitude like I did on the night of my conversion.

Go back and read the verse again. Has anyone instructed you to focus on what God is doing for you in Christ right now as the key to discipleship and joy?
Has anyone told you that you are rooted in the source of all good things? If not, is it any wonder the joy has gone and a burden of doing for God has taken its place?

Have the courage to wake up each day and affirm what God is doing for you before you grab the list of what you must do for God. Try this...

The entire Christian life abides in me right now. For to me to live is Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in
me. It is not what I am willing to do that makes the Christian life work. It is what He is willing to do! In Christ God is
loving me, guiding me, keeping me, enjoying me, purifying me, forgiving me, filling me, molding me and working His will
in me.

Rejoice! And again I say rejoice! God is much more generous with His perfect life in Jesus than you will ever truly comprehend.

P.S.
Mike Well's book Heavenly Discipleship and several other wonderful books can be ordered through his site www.abidinglife.com Get them!

Sinless

One of the downsides of living in a large city is the constant contact with concrete and manmade things. As soon as one leaves the city something in the human soul breathes a little easier.

I love cities. I love people. There is no denying, however, that nature speaks better for the Creator than what man has produced on top of nature.

This morning I walked for an hour in a park near our home. As I walked in this stubborn little refuge against man's desire to concrete every inch, I was struck with a thought that I have had over the years. This morning it was even a stronger thought.

Every flower, tree, bird and plant continues to glorify God just as they did in the garden of Eden. They do not sin. They are fulfilling their God-given role moment by moment. They are what they were meant to be.

Every day I live in the presence of sinlessness.

Jesus told us to consider birds and flowers in Matthew 6. He could do so because they are sinless. They have never rebelled against their Creator. No matter how much we concrete them in, they still fight to glorify their Creator and in the process bless those who do their best to cover them in concrete.

Humans were designed by God to deliver love 24/7 and moment by moment. Humans were meant to deliver love without interruption and without regard for friend or enemy. Jesus did that. We do not.

Now that Jesus has overcome sin, the world and the Devil by uninterrupted love, we, too, have hope of glorifying God again.
We can never be sinless, but our constant contact with the sinless One who abides in us makes glorifying God possible again.

There is hope for sinless humanity since the one sinless human came and lived with us. Now that He lives in us there is "the hope of glory." Never believe in your own sinlessness. Believe in His and rivers of living water will flow from your life.

Always remember it is not about concrete. It is about life and love. If you must live in a city as I do, fill it with love as you walk on the concrete. Cities can be beautiful when filled with life and love from the One sinless life.

Deciding from Biography

Watching the transition from President Bush to President Obama from 5,000 miles away gives one a very different perspective on what is really happening. From here it is clear that America's new president is making decisions from his personal biography. This is to be expected. We all make life's most important decisions from our personal biography. What worked for us and for those who have most influenced us for good shapes our biography and our policies.

President Obama's biography is impossible to understand apart from aggressive government intervention to correct wrongs and open doors for those who are trapped in seemingly impossible situations. Trying to convince President Obama that government is not the solution to society's greatest ills is like asking him to lead from Rush Limbaugh's biography instead of his.

We want to make governing or leading about ideas, but it is much more about biography than ideas. Our ideas were birthed in our biography by people who seemed to truly care about us.

None of can lead for long without referring back to what worked in our case. I know this as a fact from 58 years of my own decision making. Only a tremendous personal experience with some new biographical paradigm will cause a person to shift his policies away from his personal experience. Conversions do happen.

The power of biography is why we must be "born again" to enter the kingdom of God. That is why "poverty of Spirit" (coming without our own biography) is the place where true spiritual happiness begins. The biographical battles of Adam number one's children will never cease until we become children of Adam number two--Jesus.

Brazil's President has a 6th grade education and comes from decades of battles against the rich as a union activist. Trying to get him to see the owners, bankers and business leaders as the solution for Brazil's issues is truly a challenge. His biography of poverty and class struggle has shaped him. He is a good President for Brazil's poor because they can read his biography, but he definitely sees government as the answer to nearly everything. If it can be taxed, he will tax it. To him that is how fairness comes into a society--by taxing.

Brazil's President and President Obama will be great friends. Brazil is already in love with President Obama because they like his biography better than George Bush's biography. No one down here knows how to read anything Texan.

If you want to know how a man or woman will lead, read their biography and look for what they say made their life better.
That is what they will support. That is what they will believe works.

If you want to see how well a Christian will live the Christian life, get a good read on how deeply they have moved into Jesus' biography as their own. When His biography is theirs they will live his life as theirs. Jesus' personal biography is the key to our new life biography.

By the way, no matter what happens in Brazil or in the USA I have read Jesus biography and his policies work for all eternity. He believes in grace not taxes. He does, however, demand unconditional love from his countrymen.

Now, do I think big government is the answer? Read my biography and you will know that answer to that question. Even better, read my dad's biography and you will see the life of a man who was proud he never needed to lean on government to raise 7 kids in a two bedroom house. He also never missed a day of work in 30 years.

From 5,000 miles away I see President Obama leading from his biography and I would expect him to continue to do so.
I also pray he will take the time to read other biographies--especially the one about Jesus. We could certainly agree on that one!

The debate that is raging in the USA and here in Brazil is still not the big debate. The real debate is about Jesus' biography and everyone else who is offering hope and change. I, for one, have been born again and each day I am happier about that choice and the the eternal change in my biography.

To Skim or not to Skim

When I was a kid growing up in South Florida, the beach was a part of my life. To this day I feel at home on a beach.
One of my favorite activities was skim boarding.

Before the days of mass marketing of beach toys we made our own beach toys. A skim board was made from plywood and a lot of sweat. My friends and I all had skim boards.

The skim board was used where the waves hit the beach and made a very shallow shelf of water that you had to catch to skim on before the water ran back into the deeper water. When you caught the thinning wave just right you could get a really fun ride. The end of the ride was almost always a crash as the board dug into the sand and the rider would go flying and then hit hard on the sand.

Every day of skim boarding was fun, tiring and hard on the skin. We were young. Recovery was fast. The waves were endless and free.

I loved to skim board back in those days. Today my energy and recovery time is not quick enough to skim.

Os Guinness devotes nearly an entire chapter in his book Long Journey Home to what he quotes Pascal as calling "diversion".
Diversion is a lot like skim boarding. According to Pascal and Guinness humans skim because they are avoiding the deeper waters of life. Pascal said "If our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from it. Being unable to cure death, wretchedness, and ignorance, men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things. I have often said that the sole cause of a man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his own room" Ouch!

Diversion is not a spiritual discipline. It is a spiritual illness or addiction. Os Guinness goes on to say, "...our modern world has expanded the array of diversions beyond anything Pascal observed. Modern society itself is one grand diversion--the Republic of Entertainment." Ouch again!

Can we stand even for a few hours to dive into the depths of the human issues Pascal mentions? Issues like death, wretchedness and ignorance? Can we dare wade into such issues without drowning our own hope in the process?
Can we swim or will we be swept away by issues for which our answers provide no strength to swim?

My wife, Pam, can go in her room alone and be happy. She has never needed to skim anything. I have envied her this great ability to surf the waves of deeper thought while I have spent many days skim boarding the issues. Little by little I have learned that there is more to life than the thin waves of dailyness that come and are quickly gone. There is an ocean and in it there are living things that take one's breath away with their beauty and power.

Put your skim board away. Go into your room and be alone with the great questions and with your great God. Scary isn't it!
So is scuba diving, surfing and sailing. You were made for the waves and winds of the bigger issues. Seek them and know that God is the God of the oceans we fear.

Brazilian Carnaval Retreat

Pam and I are in the city of Embu near the city of São Paulo participating in a 4 day retreat sponsored by the Morumbi Baptist Church of São Paulo. This is one of the most influential churches in all of Brazil.

Carnaval is the same as Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans. It is a 4 day celebration of the flesh. (that is what Carnaval means in portuguese). Needless to say, many churches take advantage of this 4 day stretch to feed the spirit and not the flesh.

My job is to preach each of the three nights to 200 participants. I am speaking about our perfect life in Jesus and what it means to be a disciple. Besides being a big honor, this is a great opportunity.

Affirmation-A Spiritual discipline

Among the many spiritual disciplines--Listening, Silence, Praise, Thanks, Confession, Intercession, Petition, Action--there is one that gets little attention. It is the discipline of affirmation. It is my favorite.

Here is an example of an affirmation.

"The entire Christian life I will ever live abides in me right. Christ is all and is in all.
For to me to live is Christ. It is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me"

Another....

Heavenly Father,
I am what I am by your grace. Grace is your provision to me of what you demand of me. You demanded a perfect life from me and you sent your Son.
You demand of me uninterrupted love from me toward you and others, so you never interrupt your love for me by abiding as uninterrupted love in me moment
by moment.

These are affirmations I continue to make day by day in order to abide in truths that set me free to live and love without stopping.

I also make affirmations about others.

"The entire Christian life you will ever live abides in you right now. His name is Jesus"


Enjoy!

Biography and Theology-New Birth

Christian formation is not about life change. It is about new life--new biography.

Having led churches for over 30 years, I can tell you there is a huge difference between helping people change their lives (old biography) and helping people cooperate with their new life. (new birth-new biography)

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemos in John 3 he completely ignored the man's observations and the man's biography. He told him that nothing less than a new view and a new biography would do. "You must be born again."

I have found that nothing is more tiring than trying to help people change their 1st biography so it makes sense. I have found nothing more inspiring that helping them get into the moment by moment joy of their new biography in Jesus. Abiding is learning to live from and release from the new biography. Teaching others to abide is really exciting.

"Christ in you the hope of glory" is new biography. "For to me to live is Christ" is new biography. "Christ is all and is in all" is new biography. It is also great theology! This theology is inspiring stuff when taken as our new biographical identity. It is theology birthed from biography and not from work for change.

Bertrand Russell once wrote "I have dreamed of a combination of spiritual and physical companionship, and if I had the good fortune to find it, I could have become something better than I shall ever be." (Quoted by Os Guinness in Long Journey Home-great book!)

Bertrand Russell could not only have been "better". He could have been "new". His new biography would have included automatically the two things-spiritual and physical companionship-- he said he could not find in his first biography.

If you want to burn out helping people, just try signing up to help them change their first biography. You can't.

If you want to be inspired while helping others, do it with an eye on their new biography in Jesus as you live from your new biography in Jesus.

Biography and Theology

Most pastors end up choosing the denomination of their childhood or conversion experience as the place where they will express their theology. Most Baptist kids who want to enter ministry will enter ministry through Baptist institutions. Why? There is a direct link between one's theology (understanding of God) and one's biography (understanding one's self).
The Baptists where used by God to find and disciple me. Since they found me--my biography--I found it easiest to find them--my ministry.

For theology to be true theology it must become our biography. It must become more than what I know. It must become what I am. In other words, my understanding of God must become one with my understanding of myself.

Consider Jesus as the perfect example of perfect theology and biography. Jesus never took a theology course about God. Jesus' entire theology was biography. "I am my Father are one". Just as my children never took a Bud McCord course, Jesus never took a My Heavenly Father course.

All theology must become biography if it is to become real to us and real to others through us.

The Apostle Paul makes this statement in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Clearly Paul's theology had become his biography.

When our theology is our biography we end the separation that exists between information and formation. Spiritual formation requires that I understand my story as emanating from His story. In true spiritual formation we are literally one with the Trinity's biography and we continue to write with them the unwritten pages of that biography.
John 17:20-22 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are one in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

I have spoken to many atheists over the years and I have confirmed that their theology is their biography. Their personal biographical disappointment with God and with other authority figures has formed their theology. Their theology is mostly emotion from biography instead of theology from thoughtful, dispassionate reflection.

To be a branch is to share the biography of the Vine. As we share biography with others we should not be surprised to find their theology the most appealing to us. This is why Jesus says we should love Him first before even mother and father-or denomination. We will never have a Jesus theology until we are one with Jesus' biography.

Make sure your personal biography is Jesus' biography and you can be sure your theology will become His theology. The family historian, the Holy Spirit, will set you straight on the family history if you will seek oneness with God above all other courses or degrees.

Timothy Times Two

In the Apostle Paul's letters he mentions young Timothy as a son in the faith. That is exactly how I feel about two young men who are teaching the abide course across the state of Rio de Janeiro. Hubert is a lawyer and Junior is a businessman.

Hubert Andre and Junior have just completed their third retreat this month. They have spoken to more Brazilians than I have in the last 30 days! That is so cool!

When I first met Hubert Andre and Junior leading a Celebrate Recovery group this past year, I never dreamed they would be such wonderful leaders of the abide ministry in the greater Rio area. They are pushing me to expand and expand in Rio. I am running to keep up with them.

Pray that God would raise up an army just like them across Brazil. I believe we are on the verge of a discipleship movement in Brazil that will give the already dynamic Brazilian church an even more solid base from which to work.

These photos are of their most recent church retreat held the weekend of February 14th. They are working among many of Rio's poor neighborhoods where I probably would not have a clue how to truly relate.

Leading leaders

Leading leaders is like leading cats instead of dogs. It is true. Leaders don't easily follow.
In our first retreat of 2009 we were privileged to have some of Brazil's finest pastors and leaders in attendance. To get them to slow down long enough for a retreat about the inner life is no small task.
During the two day retreat I found myself looking into a mirror. I, too, am not easy to lead. No leader is.
Leaders must be inspired.
I tried to lead the entire group to take a group photo. I failed. The best I got was a few pictures when they were momentarily stopped. I couldn't get them to stand sill long enough register the moment together.
I love leaders! God grant me patience with me and them.
I have no idea how Pam has put up with me for 37 years.

Leaders retreat

The opportunity to speak to Brazilian leaders is what brought us back to Brazil. Even though we have only been back to Brazil for a few days, we are already enjoying a week with two such opportunities. This morning I spoke for four hours to over 50 leaders about the abiding life in Jesus.

For four hours with only one ten minute break they were all 100% engaged. I love the Brazilian desire to learn.
What a privilege to be seeing firsthand what God is doing here.

I believe Brazilians are so open because they see God at work in everything. They see every situation as a Divine situation.
Perhaps the difficulties they face each and every day helps them depend more than most people. All I know is that they receive the words of Jesus as food for their souls.

I pray that this wonderful people will be able to spread this willingness to learn around the world.

Attention

When I was a kid--a long time ago--the kids in class that could not sit still were the "bad kids" or the "rowdy kids". They got spanked. Over the years they were transformed into the "hyper kids". They were given lots of "time-outs" When I became the president of a Christian School for 18 years they became the "disruptive kids". They got lots of attention or even isolation. Today this type of child is usually referred to as suffering from ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder. They usually get medication.

This attention disorder has become so complex that ADD now has extra letters to describe why a particular child or adult is unable to pay attention to one thing for very long.

Imagine my surprise at learning that attention is the key to the quality of one's life. I should have seen it all along.
A friend uses this quote to help others learn to abide in Jesus and find peace for their souls.

"Whatever gets your attention gets you."


He is absolutely right. Human beings are first and foremost receivers not initiators or doers. Whatever we most consistently receive-pay attention to- is what will dictate what we produce as doing or fruit.

The challenge for the person with Attention Deficit Disorder is that they are too good at receiving. Maybe their challenge should be called ERD--Excellent Receiving Disorder. They receive too much and can't focus on anything for long because they just keep receiving.

Being good at receiving is not a deficit. It is to be very human. To not be able to choose what to receive and pay attention to, is to be at the mercy of every stimulus in the world. That is enough to make anyone unable to sit still in class.

There is hope for good receivers! They just need to choose to receive from the one source that matters which is from God through Christ. When they learn to focus on Jesus, they will be able to do more than sit still. They will learn to run and not be weary. They will find there is a universe of calming and exhilarating life to live found in paying attention to Him. Learning to do this has sure calmed me down!

Faith is the ability to receive well from God. All you who have attention issues rejoice! You have the most important of all skills. You receive well.

Mom McCartney's book

While recently staying in the home of Ruth McCartney, Pam's mom, and Marcy Warrick, Pam's sister, I came across a book on mom McCartney's bookshelf. An avid reader for all of her life as a wife, mother and missionary in Brazil, Ruth McCartney has a habit of marking with pen, pencil or colored pen everything in a book that catches her attention. She turns a book into a color coded testimony of the impression the book made on her.

The book I found is by Os Guinness entitled Long Journey Home A Guide to Your Search for the Meaning of Life. When I picked the book from the shelf, I honestly thought I had already read the book since I am an Os Guinness fan. When I leafed through the book and saw all of mom's markings, I smiled at such a wonderful thirst for truth each mark represented.

Mom offered the book to me and I took it as a precious gift. I wanted it because I wanted to have it as a memory of mom's search for truth.

Once I started to read the book, I realized it was new to me and it is now a double treasure. The book is fantastic and mom's markings don't distract, they bless.

In the book Os Guinness does a wonderful job of laying out before us the options we truly have if we are seeking the truth.
He makes no apology for saying that search will eventually lead to Jesus.

In one of the later chapters in the book Os talks passionately about the power that Jesus exercises over those who draw close to Him. He calls this the "Heart-cracking goodness" of Jesus. Just about the time a seeker sees nothing but madness and tragedy in the world, he hears the story of Jesus or hears what Jesus said or did. In that moment the tears come and the "Heart-cracking goodness" of Jesus is at work again.

Os says "The evidence for Jesus is something to be sure of; recognizing what Jesus shows us of the heart-cracking goodness of God is something to be passionate about."

The heart-cracking goodness of Jesus is our true hope. When I read this book with mom McCartney's many markings, I can see the "heart-cracking goodness" of Jesus in every stroke. Even now the tears come through the cracks as I think of Jesus' and mom's heart-cracking goodness.

P.S. Should you want to order a copy of the book to mark up for yourself, it is published by Waterbrook Press/Doubleday and is simply titled Long Journey Home by Os Guinness. You will not be disappointed.

A Good Question

I am a believer in the power of great questions. A well constructed and well asked question can reveal truth that ordinarily remains hidden beneath layers of evasion or confusion.

Here is a question that I have found yields tremendous, transforming truth for spiritual formation and discipleship.
Here is the question I ask of a person who is wanting to understand what it means to abide in Christ.

How much of the Christian Life do you think you currently possess? A little? Most? Nearly all? All?

Rarely does someone respond by confidently saying "I have all the Christian life.". Even so, the answer to the question for every believer is "I have all the Christian life.". Every believer should say with complete confidence and tranquility "I have all of the Christian life there is or will ever be. I have Jesus dwelling me. Jesus is the entire Christian life"

Collosians 3:11 says "Christ is all and is in all." The Christian life is a person. One does not accumulate a person. One believes in and responds to a person who is there.

Paul said "For to me to live is Christ..." He also said "It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me." . The Christian life is a person that every believer has dwelling in them from the moment of conversion. When we answer that we have a little of the Christian life, most of the Christian life or nearly all of the Christian life we reveal that we see the Christian life as a process of accumulation and not the formation of the presence of a person or life that abides in us.

It is true that Christ must be formed in us. That is, the Christian life, Jesus, needs to occupy the center of our existence and be the moment by moment stimulus that explains all of our behavior. All competition which seeks to get my attention must be overcome by the forming presence of Christ as my life.

When we attempt to disciple a person as if they lack the Christian life we will feel compelled to construct a Christian life delivery system that tells them they lack what we and others have already received. We will create systems to put into others what someone else put into us. These systems may very well lead to some growth in our knowledge of Jesus and of His life in us. The tragedy is that this type of system always creates the haves and the have nots and is incapable of creating the equality of life Jesus said His followers would enjoy.

In a Vineyard every branch has the entire Vine and all it is willing to give. The only question is how well is the branch responding to what it has---the Vine.

Right now every believer has the entire Christian life. The right questions for a disciple are "How am I responding to the Christian life I have? Am I abiding?"

Abide Partners-South Florida

Pam and I are able to remain in Brazil because God has created a team of individuals and churches who believe the Abiding discipleship message needs to spread across Brazil and around the world. This incredible group of churches and individuals is in itself and international group.

In a recent abide fellowship in South Florida our host was born in Cuba and his wife in Brazil. Among the others present to hear an overview of the Abide goals and about our Marriage Seminar "Six Metaphors of a Happy Marriage" were people from Romania,
Argentina, Brazil, USA and the Dominican Republic.

As abide goes international it is goes to know we already are.

Bud and Pam McCord