Time and friends

Pam and I have been travelling in the U.S. for the past three weeks. One thing we have noticed is the way the new is crowding the past across the country. America is a nation that is in love with building new things. The number of new homes under construction is amazing. The size of the homes makes some of them look like hotels.

One really nice moment in our trip was a stop at Riverdale Baptist Church with pastor Brian Mentzer and his wife, Jayne.
The Mentzers are wonderful hosts who live in a wonderful home on the church campus. The home is a restored home originally built in 1830. To be in the dynamic Washington D.C. area with such great friends in such a great home was the best of old and new. We were blessed!

Some things improve with time. Among them are great homes and great friendships. Brian and Jayne are great friends and their home was the perfect setting for a friendship that will last forever.

family

There is nothing more gratifying than to see your children walking in the truth. No other life achievement even comes close.
To be with your children and their children and hear them talking of their joy in Jesus is life's most amazing joy.

Certainly our heavenly Father feels this same joy when all of His children gather to celebrate their life in Jesus. When we worship together I know He must feel what I felt yesterday as our family gatthered together in Orlando, Florida. As the proud mom and dad, Pam and I were beyond happy. We experienced joy.

I believe heaven will be filled with such joy. Those who have never had the joy of family on earth can have it now in an abiding church. Certainly we will all have such joy in heaven.

Connections

I never cease to be amazed at how Jesus in us connects people instantly and over many, many years. The presence of Jesus is so powerful in one's life that the process of finding and keeping friends becomes a natural part of the abiding Christians life.
In this picture God's promise to make us one in Jesus has come true in my life once again.

I cannot even begin to understand how much poorer my life would be if the presence of Jesus had not been given to me at the moment of my new birth.
Friends found and kept in Jesus make us truly rich.

Abiding creates and sustains friendships. The ever widening circle of friends in Jesus is available to all who abide.


The picture is of two new friends who who joined John Harmeling and I for lunch to share the message of the joy of abiding. On the left is Mike Sallah an award winning journalist with the Miami Herald and and on the right is Dan Sessa pastor of the Church in the Glades in Pembroke Pines Florida.

The circle of abiding friends continues to grow.

February Update

The weak and the strong

Yesterday while in traffic here in our city, I witnessed a robbery. A man approached a young girl on a bike and stole the purse that she had hanging over her shoulder. I saw it happening but could do nothing.

I felt such a sense of anger and frustration watching a grown man take advantage of a young girl. Yet, such acts of the "strong" abusing the "weak" are daily realities in this world. On mean city streets, in corporate boardrooms and in families power is abused and people suffer. I, too, have misused power with words and deeds. Strength has potential for good and evil.

I wondered all through the day if I should have stopped and tried to offer assistance. Where I was at the time I could not stop without causing an accident. I spent the rest of the day praying for the young girl.

In reality, which of the two was the stronger in this scene of injustice? A man who would stoop to steal from a young girl or a young girl who will go on with her life in the face of such injustice?

Perhaps God allows this world to run along as it is to reveal that the truly strong only appear to be the weak and powerless.
That was certainly the case when Jesus suffered at the hands of the "strong" of this world.

Perhaps I should also pity the man who has been reduced to such a state of cruelty. He offended a child God loves and such an offense will not go unnoticed or unpunished. All abuse of power will be reversed in time.

I pray today for that young girl that she will get back on her bike and face the world without fear. I pray she will be drawn to trust in God through this pain. I pray that people of love will carry her through this time.

I pray the man who stole the purse will soon come face to face with what he has become and cry out to His Creator to remake him through daily contact with Jesus.

I pray for myself that whatever power I have in this world will be used to bless and not take.

simple

The longer I am a follower of Christ the more simple the Christian life is becoming. I believe that is a sign of the healing of my soul more than it is a sign of great learning. Things that are living as they were meant to always seem simple.

Following Jesus has been made complex by looking at it from the view of what we lack instead of what we have. What has helped my faith grow more and more simple is the growing conviction that the presence of Jesus--the true Vine---connected to my life is all I need.

I remember vividly when I accepted Jesus as my Saviour when I was sixteen. The message of the church where I trusted Christ was simple and unrelenting. JESUS IS ENOUGH! JESUS WILL SAVE! JESUS WILL KEEP YOU! The conviction of these things was so profound it was simple.

Unfortunately, soon after the simplicity of salavation came to me, things got complicated. I soon felt I needed about 10,000 things I did not have to make the Christian life work. Soon people where lining up with plans and products to help get these things I lacked. From cassettes (in those days) to books and courses, I was on my way.

Many of these things did help but there was one flaw in the whole process. It was filled with doubt and uncertainty. There was so much lacking! It made me feel the same way I felt before I knew Jesus was enough to save me. It seemed that only the super saints would make it in this discipleship thing. I worked hard to make it to super sainthood.

I thank God for all the effort that was expended for me by so many. I just wish that someone had told me with conviction that for discipleship and daily life JESUS IS ENOUGH! JESUS WILL BE THERE 24X7! JESUS IS THE VINE WHO WILL GIVE YOU ALL YOU NEED! HIS LIFE IN YOU IS PERFECT, TOO!

I am deeply concerned that we have built an entire Christian industry on what is lacking instead of building on what we have in Jesus. This may sound harsh, but I believe we are in need of a churchwide reformation in the area of discipleship. Just as salvation was once complicated by the church, so, too, discipleship has been complicated by the church. Those who live from this complexity and the insecurity of sincere believers need to reevaluate the starting point of their ministries.
That which does not start in the abundance of the Vine has started in the wrong place.

This may sound like we will not need bookstores, courses, etc. That is not true. Working from abundance will always be creative and fruitful. All that will go is the uncertainty and dependence on men and things instead of dependence on Jesus.


By the way, there are no super saints. It took me a long time to truly believe that. There are branches connected to a Vine. Some receive and release better than others. Even so, they know it is God's doing not theirs. How simple! It feels almost as good as getting saved.

Dreams

God brought Pam and me back to Brazil because He gave us a new dream. That dream was to spend the rest of our lives helping people understand the importance of living what Jesus called Abiding. It has been a powerful enough dream to move us 5000 miles from family and to cause us to change our way of living in dramatic ways.

I believe in the power of God given dreams to motivate and inspire. I think God wants us to be active with Him in His pursuit of men and women for Himself in this world. This week I believe Pam and I came a step or two closer to the dream becoming more of a reality.

First, I believe we have found a location in a mountain city where we can begin retreats with leaders and with Brazilian young adults who will soon be the leaders. The camp can house 180 and it has homes that can be rented for couples. It also has a piece of land that might be available for sale or longterm leasing. (The first view is from a vacant piece of land above the camp where a building for Abide Brazil could be built--a dream!)
The camp sits in the middle of a mix of upper middle class homes and deep poverty. It would be a perfect place for groups to come from Brazil or the States to see the reality in which people can abide. Our idea would be to have people do a one week course on Abiding. Mornings and evenings would be for teaching and the afternoons would be spent blessing the people of the city. The city has about 45,000 permanent inhabitants who are mostly very poor.

Second, I am nearing completion of a book on the Abiding life. I feel that God is giving me this book to use as he basis for a course I can teach to those who are interested in learning what Jesus meant when He said "Abide in Me" and "Without Me you can do nothing." I hope to have the book published in Portuguese and English at the same time--a dream!

The attached pictures are if the two dreams taking shape. For those of you who pray for us and support us. Dream with us!

A Taste for doubt

One of the things I most enjoy about Brazil is the abundance of fresh fruit. Brazil is blessed with an incredible, rich soil where fruit of all types grows quickly and easily.

As I had breakfast this morning I had this thought as I tasted the fruit and heard the birds singing outside.

"How can anyone who has ever tasted fruit while hearing the birds sing doubt that we live in a Universe that is for us not against us?"

Try this sometime to strengthen your faith. Get some fresh fruit, turn off the airconditioner until you can sense the world around you. Eat the fruit until its taste gets a good grip on you. Now, try to convince yourself the Universe is a rotten place to live. If you can hear birds singing at the same time, you will feel what I felt this morning-- A complete absence of doubt about God's good intentions toward me and the world. It felt great!

January update

Disciple 24/7

One of the greatest discoveries of my spiritual life has been discovering the fundamental difference between Jesus and me. Once I began to see what was the root of the gap between my humanity and His, I could then dream of seeing that gap closed forever. To help me remember the difference, I created a statement to remind myself. It goes like this....
"The difference between Jesus and me is simple. He was 100% satisfied in God 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
I am not."

Jesus' entire human experience was a manifestation of complete rest in God's perfection and abundance. It simply did not enter Jesus' mind, heart or soul to begin any thought or action doubting God. Temptation never took hold in His life because temptation can only take root in a space where there is doubt about God's perfect ability to satisfy.

As a child of Adam my entire life was birthed in dissatisfaction with God. My only hope is to be "born again" out of God's satisfaction provided for me by the death, burial and ressurrection of Jesus. Now that I am "born again" I can learn to be satisfied in God like Jesus which is the essence of discipleship.

Discipleship is being 100% satisfied in God 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The fruit of this satisfaction is love of God and love of neighbor-24/7. The fruit of this satisfaction is my ability to glorify God by making God's nature visible and available just as Jesus did.

The other day I was talking to a church leader here in Brazil who was questioning the need for another ministry like Abide Brazil. Truly, Brazil has been blessed with many great discipleship courses and ministries. Using the statement about the difference between Jesus and me as a basis, I asked him how many followers of Jesus he knew whose lives seemed to be a manifestation of satisfaction in God? I asked him how many pastors and leaders he knew who seemed to be governed by a 24 hour 7 day a week satisfaction in God. As he reflected on the "bottom line" of 24/7 he could see that many of our current discipleship methods are teaching discipline for satisfaction, not satisfaction for discipline. There is a huge difference. Jesus said "Without Me you can do nothing." He is the satisfaction that preceeds and provides the ability to be a disciple.

What we have done is make salvation an experience with God's grace 24/7 but sanctification (satisfaction in action) an experience with programs and plans whenever they are offered by the church. We have made salvation (justification) a permanent 24/7 reality while we have made discipleship an activity we sometimes engage in as needed rather than a life we live.

Picture yourself signing up to follow Osama Bin Laden. I know that is a huge imaginary challenge, but try. Do you suppose he would accept anything less than 24/7? Do you think he would accept anything less than hate? Why is it we think Jesus is less serious than Osama? How can we even begin to compare the loyalty Jesus asks for to the loyalty Osama asks for? Is hate more serious than love?

Abiding is a metaphor of discipleship 24/7. Branches don't live unless they live from the Vine 24/7. Branches don't bear fruit unless they live 24/7. As satisfaction in God comes to us by the presence of Jesus in our lives we should not be surprised to see the fruit appear that proves we are 24/7 disciples of Jesus.

When it comes to discipleship, throw your watch and schedule away. Discipleship based on 100% satisfaction in God is
24/7 and you should not expect it to be or want it to be anything less. Increasing satisfaction received from Jesus is what makes me like Jesus. Nothing else can.

I have developed another statement to remind me not to make excuses for the difference between me and Jesus. When I feel discipleship 24/7 is out of my reach, I say "He who has Jesus lacks nothing." Since He abides in me I need not make excuses just confessions. I sin because I am not 100% satisfied in God. I need no other explanation or excuse. I did not take advantage of what Jesus offers 24/7 and that must be confessed.

I can't picture Osama Bin Laden yawning and being soft on his disciples. I can't picture him forgiving either.

I can't picture Jesus yawning and being soft on his diciples. I can picture Him forgiving. Forgiving but never excusing. How can you excuse someone who has all they need?

Now that Jesus is in me I can become a 24/7 manifestation of God's grace and truth. I simply must abide and God will take care of the clock and the calendar for His glory.

Success

One of the most redeeming values of the Christmas season is the reviewing of the past year and the thinking some people do about life's true meaning. For pastors who preach the annual Christmas sermons this is especailly a time of reflection about the year gone by and life's true meaning. For me it has always been a wonderful time of year for thinking about life as revealed in Jesus.

This year's Christmas sermon here in Brazil I entitled "Success or Failure?" That was the thought that was on my mind as i reviewed 2005 and thought about the birth of our Lord.

One's definition of success or failure is critical to one's ability to evaluate reality. We all have a definition of success in our minds and that definiiton is powerful. We use it not only to judge ourselves but we use it to judge others as well.
Having a flawed definition of success is no small error. It has huge implications for how we feel about our lives and what we do to correct what we see as failure in ourselves and in others.

One interesting thing about the Christmas story is the way the angels viewed Jesus' birth. They put a choir together and sang to God's success in Jesus' presence on earth among men. We would be wise to follow their lead. I believe angels have a pretty good grip by now on what success really is. After all, they have been around since before the beginning of human life on earth and have seen and heard a lot about success and failure.

Was Mary a success? Was Joseph? Was Jesus? After 2000 years we should be able to say they were successful or they were failures. It depends on our definition of success.

The definition God has given me for success over the years is this. Success is being what I was created to be and doing what I was created to do. I also call this "Taking love's next step". By that standard Mary, Joseph and Jesus were 100% successful that first Christmas. Day by day they simply took love's next step no matter where it led, who criticized or who tried to stop them.

That first Christmas everyone played their part in God's orchestrated plan for salvation and it worked perfectly. Interestingly, even Ceasar played the part of corrupt politician perfectly. God used his corrupt political goals to call for a census just when Jesus needed to be born in Bethlehem. Just like Judas would later in the redemption story play his part as traitor, so God has used even evil people to make His plan work successfully. By letting people be what they are and do what they do God works things out successfully. The next time you are about to oppose a Ceasar or a Judas keep the Christmas story in mind for maximum success.

We need to be very careful to check our definition of success and match it against God's definition of success. By the way that definition is forever set for humanity--Success is spelled JESUS. He was 100% what He was meant to be and he did 100% of what He was supposed to do. Now the standard is set for us--"it is enough that a disciple be as His Master." Matt.10

Be careful about letting the world or even religious leaders define success for you below the level of Jesus. We have a perfect example of success in Jesus and the farther we move from that standard the less success we will have.

I believe every Christian can live successfully. I believe every church community can live successfully. We can abide in Jesus and let His life be our life. When we do, we will bear the fruit of success. God guarantees it! Read John 15 for the details.

In Charge

I am not "in charge" anymore. For the first time in over 25 years I am no longer the "Senior Pastor". Some days, like today,
it strikes me powerfully that I am not "in charge". When I am struck by this thought it makes me aware of one of life's greatest discoveries. We are never really "in charge." We were not meant to be. We are branches and branches are not "in charge". Managing our lives or the lives of others is truly an illusion.

I rememeber as our children became teenagers this same truth began to take root in my mind. I remember thinking as they revealed their own ideas and will "I am not 'in charge' of these kids anymore!" Each day that passed I was less and less in control of them. Was I ever really in control of them? Was being in control of them what God intended? Being in love with them and being there for them was what God intended. Being in charge of them ended as soon as they realized I was not "in charge" of them. Loving them and being there for them need never end. Thank God it has not.

As a pastor I was not to be "in charge" of anyone. As a pastor I was to be "in love" with them. It is one thing to no longer be "in charge." It is another thing to no longer be "in love."

Thank God I am still in love with my children and they are in love with me. Thank God I am still in love with those I have loved and those who truly loved me still do.

I think we only come to know who we really are when we let go of things and still find we are whole and well. Over the years as I have let go of being "in charge", I have found I don't want to be "in charge" of what I love. I want to be there for them and I want them to be there for me. What I want is oneness not control.

Perhaps this is why the greatest in the kingdom is not the one "in charge" but the one who serves. Being there for those I love is something I do not have to give up along with my "in charge" title of Senior Pastor.

How can I miss being "in charge" when I really never was "in charge"? I can still love those I have loved and be there for them in hundreds of small, yet significant ways. I still have much to learn about the Kingdom and its values. It is a good thing God loves me and is there for me as I let go of things a little at a time. It is a good thing the way God influences me is by loving and being there for me. It is His love that has captured me and holds me in his joy. Love doesn't need control.

Mentoring

One of the most significant moments in our lives is when we are needed. To know our presence makes a difference meets a very deep need God has placed in our nature. We were created by God to be satisfied in God in order to give that satisfaction away as fruit. When we know what we have is from God and someone wants it, it allows us to work with God.

This past weekend a 40 year old pastor (who looks 25!) asked me repeatedly to be his "mentor". I was embarrassed at first but then I realized God had orchestrated this moment so I would know that what God had given to me was ready to be given away.
I think the passionate request was what took me by surprise. This pastor was ready and willing to receive. Was I ready to give?

At first I was hesitant. Was he saying this because I was an american with financial contacts? Was he saying this only to take something from me? I have been used before so I was hesitant to say "Yes, I will mentor you."

As I saw this young pastor with his congregation of 150 people who are mostly new converts he has personally won, my heart began to relax and I could hear God saying "This is why I brought you back to Brazil."

The weekend was wonderful and I am humbled by this young pastor, his wife Rose and his two sons Peter and Paul. I pray Pam and I will give them all God would have us give.

We are satisfied to satisfy. I want to give Marcos and Rose all that God has given to me. Somehow I know that is what humans were designed to do.

abundance

A dear friend of mine named Tibor Feldmar once described our Creator God as "Source of Source." Tibor survived the Holocaust and is a lifelong student of the Hebrew scriptures. When I asked him why he used the expression "Source of Source" he said it was what the name "I AM THAT I AM" communicates in the book of Exodus.

As I have meditated now for years on Tibor's explanation I have come to understand that our Creator God never begins any thought or action in anything less than perfect abundance. By that I mean our Creator only knows how to think from 100% satisfaction. Our Creator has no lack and therefore no fear ever enters His decision making process. To be godly we must learn to think and act from perfect abundance.

How different that is from much of my thinking! How different from many of my responses to life. I am only just beginning to think fully with such abundance. I am only just learning to abide. I am still learning to be like my master Jesus.

According to Jesus, birds, flowers and healthly branches are the examples of living from God's abundance. Jesus told us to take no thought about tomorrow. Why? Abundance takes no thought about what cannot be taken from it. Jesus said anyone who leaves houses or family for His sake cannot end up having less. Why? Abundance can never end up less than it began or it is not an abundance begun and sustained in God.

How different would our lives be if every single thought or action started in abundance and not lack? How different would our marriages be if both husband and wife saw every challenge through the lens of joyful abundance in God instead of what we might lose if our mate does not shape up?

When Jesus suffered, He suffered for the joy set before Him. That joy was the abundance of the Creator that is never truly taken from us. When Jesus cried "My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?" I believe He was cut off from the abundance of God for us. For Him that must have been the very deepest essence of His suffering. For a moment in time He was empty of the very abundance He had known forever. No wonder the sky went black and the earth shook.

When your mind, heart, soul or body is challenged in the world, remember that nothing can separate you from the abundance of God's love in Jesus. Abide in the abundance of God. Act in the abundance of God. That is the fruit coming from the Vine.

Intentional friends

I have just returned from a trip back to the USA to participate in a memorial service for a dear friend named Terri Davis.
Terri left our presence and entered the presence of God after a four year battle with cancer. Terri was a testimony of grace and faith to all who knew and loved her. Her husband Larry and her two sons, Jared and Justin,celebrated her life with the hundreds who came to her memorial service. Terri was a woman who learned to abide and as a result her life was filled with friends.

A part of the abiding life is having a friendship with Jesus.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, fo everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:12-15

I have struggled with this passage over the years. The part about needing to obey His commands in order to be His friends was not clear to me. I reacted to this idea with a sense that this was not what friendship should be. As usual, I was not seeing clearly and Jesus has patiently waited for the time when He could open my eyes.

Friendship in God's kingdom is based upon a kind of abundance we do not know on earth. Kingdom friendship is based on a total relaxation in the intentions of God. It is simply knowing that any command given from Jesus is flowing from such a pure source so it can be obeyed with joy and with no reservations.

The key to friendships is the blending of intentions. For instance, two people who love fishing will find it easy to connect whenever they are planning to fish or actually fishing. When two people who love fishing are getting to fish together, one can "command" the other without any offense because fish are being caught.

This is why Jesus told His disciples everything He had learned from the Father. Until they could relax in the good intentions of the Father like Jesus did, no true friendship would occur. Abiding in the Father's love like Jesus did requires a kind of abandoning ourselves into the good intentions of God. As author Henry Scougal once observed "To love is to wander out of ourselves" We do this "wandering" only if we trust the intentions of another.

People who have few friends have not connected with others at the level of their intentions. People who have no friends probably have very deep doubts about the intentions of other people. They may have reason to doubt others, but they have no reason to doubt the intentions of Jesus. Starting a friendship with Jesus will give them friends unless they doubt even Jesus' intentions.

People who have trouble obeying Jesus are still on the fringes of God's intentions. Until they learn to relax and rest in God's good intentions they will struggle when they read the sermon on the mount or any of Jesus' other commands.

As I visited with friends while in the States I realized that it is the intentions of Jesus that I share in common with my closest friends. We are able to sustain and enjoy our friendship because we are all relaxing more and more in the intentions of Jesus. As we do, we relax with each other and our friendships become easier and easier to sustain.

The intentions of God as revealed in the life of Jesus are clear proof that we can rest and relax in the Vine--Jesus.
If a command comes from Him we can obey with a smile since we are such good friends. How could we not do what He says for us to do since His intentions are flowing from the source of all good intentions?

Look for people who trust God's intentions in Jesus and you will find Kingdom friends. They are the kind of friends whose intentions you can trust. When intentions begin in God, you can feel free to "wander" into any relationship.

God at work

I have just returned from a pastor's conference in central Brazil. I visited a thriving Brazilian city which is the center of Brazil's booming farming belt.

A little over 25 years ago I visited this same city called Goiania with the thought of planting a church. God led us to Sao Jose instead. Now, after a 25 year absence I could see clearly how God has worked in this once small city. When I visited it in 1980 the presence of any kind of church where the Gospel of Jesus was clearly preached was rare. Today, the city is one of Brazil's most evangelized and discipled cities. The impact on the community is clear to see.

It is wondeful to see how God's workings go on and on. We are invited to join Him in the work. We are not the key--He is.

I shared the message of Abiding in Jesus with pastors and leaders who are working with God in Goiania. It was a wonderful thing to see how busy our God is in the lives of men and women across our world.

By the way, I have been asked to consult and counsel in the planting and development of a church in Goiania! I may get my chance to be a part of a church planting effort there after all. With our very active God we are never out of the plan.

Our gaze

Being so far from family and friends is the hardest part about being here in Brazil. If "absence makes the heart grow fonder", our family and friends need to know our love has grown greatly. It has!

One thing that helps us is the wonderful invention called e-mail--especially e-mails that contain pictures. Gazing at a picture that came from one of our "children" is like being with them. When we are together we get to see the same things at the same time.

Abiding is to be seeing Jesus clearly as our source of satistaction and purpose. Abiding depends on paying attention to the Vine. Abiding has to do with the direction of our gaze.

Yesterday Pam and I visited a mountain hotel where we spent a few wonderful days back in the ancient 80's. To gaze on the unchanging beauty of that place made our past connect with our present. It also gave great hope for the future. We were inspired as we gazed on what God keeps satisfying each day.

When we are abiding we are gazing at Jesus. When our children are abiding they are gazing at Jesus. When our friends are abiding they are gazing at Jesus.

How far away can we be from each other if we can all see the same wonderful person at the same time? I feel close to all I love when I gaze on Jesus. Can you see Him right now?

The Space

My recent "blog" about the view from the pastor's home created a wonderful conversation. One person asked a great question. "Does living in a third world country mean one serves God better?" That may not be he exact question but it is close.

Where I live does not prove anything about whether I am serving God better or worse. The will of God is not a place. The will of God is a disposition or what I call "cooperating constantly with God's intentions." I can be in the will of God at any place and in any time if I am in harmony with the God's intentions and can, by His grace, sustain those intentions which began in Him. That sounds complicated!
In reality it is not if we use a metaphor. I love metaphors.

Think of a flower that is in my office at church. Poor flower! I am terrible with flowers. They all suffer if they are in my "care." Yet, I have never seen a flower stop being what it was made by God to be even though I mistreat it. It is what it is by its creation blueprint. It never fails to sustain its intention as begun by the Creator. No matter what I do. it keeps glorifying God where it is. It is what it was made to be no matter what I do or do not do. It suffers and may even die, but it will remain true to its Creator. That is why it is beautiful.

We humans have the capacity to choose. Someone once explained this to me in a helpful way. They said there is a "space" between stimulus (externals) and response (actions). In that space we live and make our choices. People who are successful in some way have mastered the space in such a way that their responses are predictable. We can count on them.

When I try to be "successful" in doing God's will I hear Jesus saying "without Me you can do nothing." He is so right.
I am far less successful than the flowers! I cannot sustain God's love toward my neighbor. I cannot cooperate with God's intentions like the flowers always do. The stimulus (externals) stop me. What can I do?

I must "abide in the Vine" in the space between stimulus and response. I must learn to let God's blueprint for humans (the life of Jesus) be my life. I must live in "oneness" with Jesus and then I will release the fruit of God's intentions no matter what the stimulus may be. Only then will I be predictable like the flower.

I do not believe my pastor friend in the poor area of Brazil is doing more of the will of God here than my pastor friends in the U.S.A. I believe my pastor friend here is like a beautiful flower where he has been planted by God. For me it was obvious that he abides in Jesus in the space between stimulus and response. I was impressed with Jesus' beauty in him where he lives.

Poverty is a powerful stimulus. Wealth is a powerful stimulus. The love of wealth is the more powerful stimulus in the world for wrong responses. (Remember that "love of money is the root" verse?) Since it is such a powerful stimulus, the toughest place to live God's will may be in the presence of great wealth. I do not know for sure if it is harder to do God's will in abundance or in lack. All I know is we must abide wherever we live in order to do God's will. First world or third world it is all God's world. With money or without it is still possible to abide.

The place where we should serve best will take care of itself as we abide. The Vinedresser will decide where we can best respond to the stimulus of this world and bear the most fruit. The point is, I saw a "flower" ( my pastor friend) in a place where I did not expect to see a flower so I pointed to him and said "Wow!" It was a lack of faith on my part to be so surprised. Why should I be surprised to see the power of God's will manifested in a poor neighborhood or on Wall Street? Abiding can handle it.

The will of God is to abide wherever we are. Be like the flower.

I pray you don't get assigned to a place like my office. If you do, God knows. Abide there even to the death. His will is the most important thing in the world--not the stimulus. Somehow I believe flowers who give their lives in my office receive special love from the Creator. I believe those who live near great and difficult externals receive special love to see them through.

The view from the Pastor's home

I have just returned from a wonderful time of ministry in Brazil's third largest city. Little by little God is allowing me to reconnect with pastors and their families across Brazil. What an education!

For the past three days I was hosted in the home of a dear pastor who lives and ministers in a humble, working class area of Belo Horizonte. This pastor, his wife and three children, ages 13, 18 and 21,treated me to the very best they have. I was blessed. What a family!

One thing that struck me was the difference between what this man has had to work with over the past 16 years he has led his church and what I have enjoyed over the last 16 years. Perhaps the view from his home captures it best. (see the pictures from my room) What he and his family look out on each and every day is what many call "the third world "

I am not sure where the term "third world" came from, but I know this. I have lived and worked in the "first world."
Basically to live in the first world is to work with the best the world has to offer. The best healthcare, the best police protection, the best schools, the best roads, etc. To live in the third world is to live with much less--perhaps 2/3 less.

Each day this family looks out on a world that is about 1/3 of what I have enjoyed. One third of the security, one third of the opportunities, one third of the privacy, one third of the books, one third of the space. Their tiny car with six of us jammed inside was definitely "third world."

To live in the "third world" is to live with less of everything unless you can create your own little "first world" as a few can and do. This pastor can never create a "first world" for his family. This is and will be his family's only world.

It is hard to see such a difference and not feel guilty. Yet, one thing became clear to me while in their home. They may live with two thirds less of everything materially, yet the inside of their home was one of the happiest most godly places I have ever been. I have seldom, if ever, met more godly young people in my life. The pastor and his wife have raised three of the most passionate Christians I have ever met. I have seldom met a more beautiful couple in ministry. All they could talk about was how they could better serve their people.

In the Kingdom of God there is no material advantage or disadvantage. In the Kindgom of God the first may even be last.
I, for one, know I will be hard pressed to match the joy and love for God I saw from my view inside the home. The view from the window was nothing to impress but the inside view was as good as any in the world.

October Update

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