Campo Grande

I have just returned from a trip to Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. The Brazilian city is located just a few hundred miles from Bolivia and Paraguay. Like most major Brazilian cities it is in a phase of rapid expansion and development. Brazil is on the move and so are its churches.

Pastor Claudio and his wife Eloar were my hosts for an Abide Conference. What wonderful people!
I was treated like a visiting celebrity and the 90 people that attended the seminar could not have been more gracious and open.

God is at work in Brazil in amazing ways. The people of this relatively new Brazilian state and this growing city are cooperating with Jesus. They are abiding and it shows.

E-devo. The extent of His love

The Extent of His Love

John 13:1 "He now showed them the full extent of His love."

Discipleship rightly understood is a process of revelation. It was never intended to be a process of accumulating information. To miss this distinction is to confuse the useful resources about Jesus with the essential revelation of Jesus.

By the time we reach John 13, the disciples have been led from revelation to revelation about Jesus. A day at a time God had revealed through Jesus the existence and quality of His love. As the final moments with Jesus physically among them arrived, it was time for Jesus to reveal the "full extent" of His love.

Jesus rises from his place of honor and leadership at the Passover meal, dresses as a slave and begins to wash the disciples' feet. Peter reflects the shock of all the disciples by saying emphatically "No. You will never wash my feet." This is not humility. This is blindness.

Peter speaks for all mankind when faced with the extent to which God's love must stoop to do what only God can do for mankind. We do not want God to go as low as our feet because we do not really know who He is and how far removed we are from Him. We are prepared to be loved but not to this extent.

Sometimes I hear Christians celebrating Jesus' death on the Cross because His singular act of love forgives us and will take us to heaven. This is good! It is, however, an entirely different thing to have revealed to us the full extent of God's love on Calvary. This includes foot washing. Included in His death was the washing of our feet for all eternity. We do not want to see Jesus go as low as our feet. To forgiveness by grace we say "yes," but to touching our feet we say "no."

If Jesus had started the discipleship process with the revelation of foot washing I am almost sure no one would have followed Him. What we have in mind for our Lord loving us is not washing our feet. We want His love but we also want to retain some sense of our own worth and dignity even if it is just our feet. We want to be loved but not to that extent.

Have you received the revelation Jesus gave to Peter? "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me."

Most of us have been with Jesus for some time, but you can be sure we will all need to have revealed to us the touch of His love on our feet. When He finally touches your feet, be prepared to weep. Weep because His love had to go so low. Celebrate because He did go so low. Obey Him when He sends you to do the same for others who will not understand. The kind of love they need from you will also be a revelation that is hard for them to accept and hard for you to deliver.

Too busy

When you are too busy to blog does that mean your are too busy? It seems to me that I am busier than I have ever been. That is good and bad. It is good in that it means doors are opening. It is bad in that I can't seem to keep up with all my "social networking." I didn't even know that "social networking" existed until a few years ago. Oh well, enough complaining. Busy is good and bad and God gives grace to know the difference one day at a time.

Here are a few pictures of the most recent "busy" in southern Brazil. It was a very good kind of busy as I ministered to students and church members in the beautiful city of Londrina. What precious people one meets here in Brazil. They are so open and so hungry for God's word and God's will in Jesus.

I am honored to have met Pastor Carlos, his family and the students at the seminary.

Abide Retreat II

This past weekend, April 16-18, we hosted our first Abide II retreat. The focus of this retreat was Devotion and Action. We used for our study guide our recently published Prayer and Action journal. The journal takes a person through 8 spiritual disciplines which we call "The eight habits of First Love." The habits are Listening, Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Affirmation, Intercession, Petition and Action. These "habits" are born naturally whenever we are in love. They are not for "super saints." They are for all disciples who want to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and love their neighbor as they love themselves.
The retreat was attended by 47 with 40 coming from northern Brazil.

Forced or Inspired?

I live in a part of the world where socialism and communism are the controlling views of most of the governments.
By this I mean that governments here believe that people must be forced by the government to be collectively good to others. There is no Fox news in Brazil or in most South American countries to debate this point.

Having been raised in the USA at the height of Capitalism's confidence and the belief in individual, voluntary goodness, It has been quite an opportunity to see these two opposing views of greater goodness in action. Here is what I see. (Admittedly, this is an over simplification but hopefully it serves to make my point)

Socialists and communists are convinced that societies left the themselves to be good will always be more bad than good because the rich will oppress the poor. They are so committed to this view that they are willing to risk life and limb to put the socialist or communist government in charge of enforcing goodness. Once they take control of the government for good as they envision it, they will risk everyone else's life and limb to make sure their idea of good is forced on everyone from then on. Hugo Chavez comes to mind.

Pure capitalists, on the other hand, see being good as an individual option after individual earnings. They start with freedom to earn and then work at freedom to give. They want to be free from any interference with earnings or giving. They alone will decide what being good looks like. Bill Gates comes to mind.

Is either of these positions the Christian position? No.

Jesus taught us that true goodness is an inspiration that comes only from connection to God through Him. It has nothing to do with force or individual freedom. It has everything with love and living connection to God. Jesus made this clear when He said, "Without me you can do nothing." John 15:5 Jesus taught us that being good comes before either dominant government or unlimited earnings. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness..." Matt. 6:33

I personally believe that arrogant socialism and communism are more dangerous and destructive than self-centered capitalism. Chavez makes me more nervous than Bill Gates. I see less real good coming from governments who are filled with the arrogance that they control good and can force good out of others than I see coming from capitalists counting their money and thinking about maybe being good when they have enough. Simply put, I prefer having been born in Miami than further south in Cuba. I would prefer that for my grandchildren, too.

Which system does God prefer? Neither. He has His own Kingdom and will settle for nothing less than pure goodness. He will judge all men by the inspirational system of "Christ in you the hope of glory." Goodness is neither forced on left up to us to decide if we want to participate in it or not. Goodness is a Person named Jesus and He invites us to connect Him not to power or money. If we do not, then we will never know the goodness we all agree needs to exist among men.

Here is the interesting thing. I have now lived in both man driven goodness systems. I pay taxes in both systems. I have found that I can be inspired for good by Jesus in either system. In the end, inspiration in Jesus wins. The day may soon come when one system replaces the one where you live. If you are inspired in Jesus, you will find you can find inspiration to deal with either. I think that is what He had in mind when He said "Folow me" or "Abide in Me." That sounds good to me.

Pam's view

Over the years I have learned to listen to Pam. She has a way of seeing things that is amazing. Recently she sent a word to our family and friends about our first retreat of the year here in Brazil. I think you will enjoy her "view."
Bud

Hi everyone of my precious family and friends!

Here are some pretty pictures of the first Abide Retreat of this year, held this weekend at our Abide Retreat Center in the mountains of
Campos do Jordão. We had a smaller group than usual, but they were exactly who our Father God sent to us! Had a most refreshing
time and felt like we were constantly drinking from the rivers of living waters! In this group there were Brazilians, Americans, an Angolan
girl, a French lady, a Brazilian lady who was (and hopes to be again) a missionary to Angola. All are born again, and of all different ages
in the Lord, from months old (the Angolan young lady) to tens of years. As you can see, the range in age is also quite astonishing, which
happens often in these Abide Retreats. There are 11 hours of study based on John 15 and Jesus' metaphor of the vineyard. Everyone
stays engaged and interested the entire time, no matter their age! Bud and I never tire of these retreats, and by now we figure that about
700 people have come. Bud has taught the study for 4 1/2 years, with an intensity that goes beyond our retreats. I have had the privilege
of hearing the study maybe 50 times. It is fresh and new each time! Bud had a wonderful insight from our Lord this weekend:
"Only God knows just how much love He has for each retreat group to deliver during their lives as branches connected to the True Vine,
and for His glory."

The owners of the camp where we have the Abide Retreat Center, Josmar and Marisa, are not in this picture, though they sit in for several
hours of each retreat. They are doing well, and are as kind and engaged as ever. Marisa is in the midst of 4-6 months of strong chemotherapy,
to combat the rectal cancer that was surgically removed from her body on Jan. 12. As she says, she is abiding moment by moment as a
branch connected to the True Vine, Jesus Christ, and He is supplying her with the strength and hope she needs for each moment. She is
doing well in spite of some nausea, no real appetite, and quite a lot of weight loss since last Oct. when her treatment began. She has not
lost her hair, and that is a nice consolation for a lady. This couple is one of God's sweetest gifts to Bud and me! They really do feel like the
"family" that they are to us in Christ, as they are to hundreds of other dear friends! They are deeply loved by MANY people! We are all trusting
the Lord to work His healing will in her body, and restore her health so that she can have many more years of delivering His love here on
His earth, for the glory of our Father!

Our next retreat is in April, and it will be our very first Abide Retreat II. Now we will be distinguishing the retreats as I and II. Abide II will
focus on devotion and action, as these relate to abiding in Jesus Christ. The Abide I retreats focus on walking Christians through Jesus'
metaphor of the vineyard, and helping them understand the meaning of each component: The Vine, The Branch, The Vinedresser, The Fruit,
The World, The Pruning, The Seasons. They learn what Jesus meant when He told His disciples to abide in Him. Abide II will focus more
on how to keep abiding through practices of devotion, and how to act with Him once we receive what He wants us to release. Bud will use
his Prayer Journal, which is set up to teach the disciplines of devotion, and he is putting together a study guide for the weekend. Our first
Abide II Retreat in April is already filled up with 40 people coming by plane from the northeastern city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of
Pernambuco. They are coming with their pastor, Walter, and his wife, Karine, who came to an Abide I Retreat over a year ago. They have
held and taught three Abide I Retreats to the people in their church in Recife! We are sooooo excited for this group to come to our first
Abide II Retreat! Our capacity is 45-50 people, based on the size of our teaching room. The camp has a larger capacity, but then the teaching
would take place in the cafeteria, which is always a possibility. Our Lord has given us a wonderful team of volunteers who work hard at each
retreat.

We are praying and asking the Lord to give us His design for our new branch, Abiding Women. Donna Faircloth is our leader for this branch
of the ministry. We have had one evening tea event, last Nov. and our next event will happen this month on the 29th. We would like this branch
to provide support for women of different ages, stages and walks of life, to apply abiding to their lives. So far we have the events happening,
but not the more personal venues. Praying. Asking. Waiting expectantly to receive from our True Vine.

Hoping each one of you is well and blessed in our Lord and True Vine! Remember to read John 15:1-11 every now and then to rediscover
Jesus' original and surprisingly simple design for discipleship and delicious oneness with Him and the Father!

Loving you each forever!
Mom/Pam
Prov. 3:5-7

Birthday 2010

There is a very special, small hotel in the mountains near our home in Brazil. The hotel Toriba has been a retreat for Pam and me whenever we have needed to make a major decision of just be "us". The Toriba has been our special place since 1980.

Pam booked a night for us for my birthday and surprised me with this special gift. Memories are good for a marriage. Sacred places are good for a marriage. As we walk around this beautiful setting we can see our kids here with us and we can remember major decisions we made in this place. We hope we have many more years coming here to make new memories together.

I wish our grandchildren could come, too!

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.

MIssions Conference

We are having a great time at our missions conference. This wonderful group of pastors and leaders gathered to hear about what God is doing around the world. God is at work in Brazil!

Lesser truths

Everyone's day is filled with moments of truth. Some moments of truth take our breath away. Other truths just come and go.

For instance, here is a truth that will take our breath away--You have cancer.
Here is a truth that will come and go---I am out of printer ink.

What makes a truth powerful is its staying power or its resistance to other truths. A truth will only come and go when we can find a greater truth that makes the lesser truth move out of the way so we can do what we must do.

When I discover I need printer ink, the greater truth of the Office Depot on the corner makes it move out of my mind as a greater truth.
When I discover I have cancer, what can make that truth move out of my mind as the greater truth?

Only taking all current truth captive to a greater truth can keep us moving forward in life doing what we must do. If we cannot find a greater truth than our cancer, we stop at the truth of our cancer that has claim on our mind right now.

Two of our friends here in Brazil recently heard the words "You have cancer". Both are in the process of dealing with this powerful truth. Both are looking for the greater truth that will keep them moving forward with their lives. This finding the greater truth in all circumstances is what Christians call taking every thought captive to Christ.

II Corinthians 10:5 "...casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ"

As believers we must remember to take every thought captive to Jesus. He is always the greater truth that keeps us moving forward in our lives. "Follow Me" means to make Jesus the greater truth--greater than anything from printer ink to cancer.

Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth and the life..." He is the greater truth-always.

I have never heard the words "You have cancer". If I do, I pray that I will also hear the words "I will never leave you or forsake you." If I do not, then the lesser truth--cancer--will be my greater truth until I do. No matter what I hear today, I pray it will give way the the greater truth--"Christ in me the hope of glory."

For the Christian every lesser truth must give way to the greater truth until all truth gives way to the final truth-Jesus.