VIP Visit

Some people bring with them a very special kind of presence. Some people have what I call a Very Inspired Presence. They are people who are Inspired by the Presence of Jesus in their lives. A recent visiter to our home and to the Abide Center in Campos do Jordao was just such a VIP. His name is Greg Gregory.

Greg came into our lives back in 2000 through Hollywood Christian School. Problems in the public school in South Florida led Greg and his wife Zully to put their children into Hollywood Christian which is a ministry of the First Baptist Church of West Hollywood. Problems led Greg, Zully and family into a community of people inspired by Jesus. Now Greg, Zully and their entire family are all Very Inspired People. They are all inspired by the presence of Jesus in their lives. They are VIPs.

Greg has business interests in 17 countries. Among those countries are Brazil and Argentina. We reaped the blessing of two days that Greg had open during his business trips to Brazil and Argentina. Next time we hope Zully can come, too.

For now his presence was a VIP moment for Pam and me. Thanks Greg.

First Abide Retreat 2008

The weekend of March 7-9 marked the beginning of our monthly Abide retreats in our Abide Retreat Center in the mountain city of Campos do Jordão. The retreat was exactly what we dreamed it would be nearly 5 years ago when we began to see this vision from the Lord.

There is something very powerful about focusing a willing group of people on the abundance of having the living presence of Jesus in us 24/7. Remarkable things happen to those who dare focus their mind, emotions and will on the perfection Jesus within. The Light really goes on!

The retreat allows this happen as we "coach" others to seek the abundance of Christ within moment by moment. Once they learn that this possibility exists for them and for every believer moment by moment, it is the beginning of learning to receive this joy in the much noisier world they will meet when they go back to the valley where they live and work.

Taking the state of soul one gains in an abide retreat back into the very real and turbulent world of day to day living is the goal.
True Christian life is not designed to run from reality. It is taking the calm of Jesus right into the center of the storm.

Just like surfers look at large waves as a wonderful challenge, so, too, those who abide see the "waves" of life as a challenge the abiding soul can face with joy found in Jesus' perfect presence moment by moment.

Souls at rest can surf the waves of life.

Legalists

I continue to be fascinated with the idea that evil is the development and defense of a list of people I have been given permission not to love. I am evil to the extent that I keep a list of people who deserve less than the best I am and the best I have.
Jesus had no such list. The sermon on the mount is designed to show us how a person without a list would behave in the most pressing realities of the world.

This morning during my devotional time the word "legalist" came to mind. I had not noticed that the word "Legalist" communicates the idea that a Legal List can be developed. How interesting!

Religious evil is always about a legally justified list of unlovable people. Political evil is always about a legally justified list of unlovable people. Personal evil is also legalized lack of love. I personally write the law of love in my own heart as my personal evil. It only takes one Legal list to make a legalist.

Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness. Jesus is the new law written in our hearts. Jesus is the kingdom where their are no Legal Lists. The laws one used to make legal lists are not needed since Jesus kept every law for all mankind so no more lists should be made to stop love.

Watch out for any Legal Lists of unlovable people. They are everywhere and very well written. Watch out for the most dangerous Legal List of all. That is the one you write within your own heart.

A Small World

I was deeply touched by this e-mail from our sending pastor Russell Johnson. God is good and God is in control.

Bud,

One of our Spanish men has been deployed in Afghanistan since early December. I received a note from him today telling me that they have put him in charge of the Spanish chapel service each week. The first week no one came, so he went back over our Men's prayer lists since 2004 and just watched how God had answered so many prayers, and those we still are praying for. The second week two guys showed up and they had a wonderful time in Luke 24. Here is the part that will bless you - Next week he is going to begin with "The Satisfying Life" We sent the DVDs and a book with him and he is going to begin sharing it with his Spanish speaking group. I'm not sure, but I don't believe that country was on your radar screen, but the vine keeps extending out!

Just thought you would want to know.

Russell


God is using each of lives to deliver fruit as we abide.

The Christian Life

If someone asked you to tell them where the Christian life is, where would you direct them? Would you dare point to yourself and claim to possess the entire Christian life?

It is amazing to me how reticent we are to claim for ourselves what Jesus said is ours. He said He is our life (the only Christian life) and we still refuse to believe it and behave as if it is true. The truth we often will not own is that every Christian has the entire Christian life. That entire Christian life is the perfect presence of Jesus in us right now. If we look for the Christian life anywhere else we will look in vain. All the Christian life we will ever have is in us from the moment of our new birth.

Like the DNA we live our physical lives with from conception, Jesus is all the Christian life we will ever have and all the Christian life we will ever need.

The Apostle Paul said "for to me to live is Christ...". He also said that he no longer lived but Christ lived in Him. He also was concerned that the Christian life would not be "formed" in all those in whom that life dwelt. He wasn't concerned they did not have the Christian life. He was concerned that life would not occupy its rightful place of influence and stimulus. Clearly Paul looked at every believer as possessing the entire Christian life since Jesus was abiding in them. Do we see every Christian like Paul did?

As I have struggled to believe I have the entire Christian life already in me, I have sensed that my own pride is what keeps me from surrendering to this profound yet simple way of seeing. I don't want a finished and perfect life in me because that means I will have to live exclusively by grace from now on. Grace means I didn't produce anything. Grace means I simply receive from the resources of another. That offends my desire to contribute something additional to the source of my life other than faith.

We cannot and must not add to the cross of Jesus or we will distort the Gospel. We cannot and must not add to the life of Jesus which is the Christian life. Both Christ crucified and Christ are to be received as perfect and gracious from the moment of receiving by faith.

Little by little I am learning to stop making excuses about the qualify of my Christian life. My Christian life is perfect since my Christian life is Jesus. I have the perfect Christian life right now. I don't need to go looking for it or try to produce it. I need to receive it, rejoice in it and release it.

The next time someone asks you to help them find the Christian life, don't take them to a bookstore or even a pastor. Tell them you know right where the Christian life resides 24X7. Tell them that same life can be theirs the same way you received it-by faith.

"For by grace are you saved and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God."

Oh, the unimaginable patience of God with me. He gives me the entire Christian life and I still live as though Jesus is not enough.

Back In Brazil

Pam and I arrived safely back in Brazil this morning the 21st of February. Our flight was great and we were greeted at the São Paulo airport by Tom and Diana Turley along with their daughter Charity. We felt truly welcomed home.

Tomorrow I begin a three day retreat with the people of the First Baptist Church of Jacareí. We are off and running.

A special thanks for all who made our stay in the USA such a wonderful time. Here are a few pictures of the great time we had while in the USA.

Marriage Seminars

Pam and I are headed back to Brazil on the 20th of February. Our time in the USA and in India have been wonderful. We are living the promise of Jesus that said we would have houses and lands everywhere if we would follow Him. We have only spent a few nights in hotels in the past two months. We personally own no home in the USA or Brazil, but we sure have stayed in some wonderful places that felt like home. God is good.

We have also experienced the great joy of presenting the seminar "Six Metaphors of Happy Marriage" in Riverdale, Maryland and in Houston, Texas. This 5 to 6 hour course on marriage is being greatly used to challenge couples to do a spiritual diagnosis of their marriages. We are extremely gratified with the way this material is being received in Brazil and the USA.

A special thanks to all who made their home our home. A special thanks to all who love us in Jesus' name.

The Question of Evil

Have you ever thought of yourself as being evil? I have to admit I have reserved the title "evil" for the really bad people of history.
People like Hitler and Stalin come to mind for my evil list.
As usual, the words of Jesus recently challenged my habit of personally excluding myself and other "good" people from the list of evil. Jesus said in Matt. 7: 11 "if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
Jesus' words "you, being evil" really hit me hard at the exact moment I was thinking of a person who had hurt some people I deeply love and I heard myself saying "He is evil."

So, I asked Jesus to explain the meaning of evil to me and that set in motion some days of intense connecting of Bible verses and Jesus' use of the word evil. Here is what finally came together for me and I have had to extend my evil list to include me.

Evil is the creating of a list of people I give myself permission not to love.

Jesus said we are all able to create a list of people we choose to love. "...being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children"
The children made it on my personal list so they receive the best I am and the best I have.

I know that the Devil is on our list of evil beings. I am beginning to see that the Devil was expelled from heaven because he wanted to be like God. The devil is not a creator. The devil is not omnipresent, omniscient or omnipotent. So, what was the devil wanting that only God is? I think the devil wanted to decide who he would love. I don't think God was really concerned with any other power the devil might grasp for except the power to lead others to live with a list of God's creatures who did not deserve to be loved.

Instead of loving all, the devil wanted to reserve the right for himself and his followers to create a list of people or beings that did not deserve to be loved. This, then, is the birth of evil. Jesus is the birth of the cure for evil among men.

Jesus' birth is the arrival of the first man who would never have a list of who should be loved. Jesus had no list. "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son..." John 3:16 Jesus' arrival is the arrival of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom with no list.

I am evil whenever I keep a list of who deserves my love. When I have such a list I am competing with God for the one thing I can do that only God should be doing. God has already decided who is worthy of love and the list is everyone so I don't need a list at all.

Whenever we insist of keeping a list of who deserves the best of us and the best we have, we compete with God's decsion that love is for all.

Jesus had no list. That is what infuriated the devil, the pharisees and the romans. They all had lists and wanted Jesus either to adopt their list or end up on their list. The no list Jesus even upset the apostles shortly before the crucifixion as Peter tried to stop Jesus from going to His death. Jesus confronted that interference with God's love with the words "Get behind me Satan."

To be a disciple is give up our list of who deserves the best we are and the best we have. Read the sermon on the mount with that thought about evil in mind and verses like "go the second mile" or "turn the other cheek" or "love your enemy" will suddenly seem completely in tune with a kingdom that allows no lists.

The person I was calling evil is evil to the extent that they actually promote lists of who should be loved. The problem is, their evil was leading me to create a list, too. Evil is closer to me than I wanted to admit. "You, being evil" fits us all when we grab our pen to add a new name to our list.

Abide Houston

One of the most amazing things about the Abide message and ministry is the way it connects people. When we focus on Jesus an amazing connection occurs among believers.

Recently here in Houston, Texas Julie and "Dada" Sahmel opened their home to their Sunday School class for an abide brazil dinner. The class has begun to support the Abide Brazil ministry and they have faithfully prayed for me and for Pam for over a year. The evening was wonderful as we enjoyed Brazilian food and spoke of the perfect presence of Jesus in our lives.

Truly we are seeing a abiding network of friends growing worldwide from India to Texas to Iowa to Florida to Brazil. Focus on Jesus and soon you will be surrounded with others who love to do the same.

Permission Granted

"You are now free to move about the country." So ends a great T.V. ad from Southwest Airlines. Television can be amazingly bad but still some of the ads really stay with you. The Southwest airlines ad is among my favorites for 2007.

The ad opens with someone having a very, very bad moment due to some ridiculous mistake they have just made. After they have made the mistake a voice says...."Need to get away?" Then the airlines makes the pitch that they give permission to get away from ridiculous reality. The ad obviously works because the ad keeps running and running.

I don't think Southwest Airlines meant for the ad to be a theological statement, but it has become that for me. I can't get the phrase "You are now free to...." out of my mind. Let me explain.

Religions give people permission to behave a certain way. That is why religion matters. Whoever or whatever gives people permission to behave in a certain way matters. People like to say we can separate religion from politics or from public life but that is simply not true. A person's religion grants them permission to behave as they do. People may not always behave as their religion says they should behave, but they learn from their religion how they ought to behave.

This became abundantly clear to me in India as I watched people avoid eating meat, letting cows wander free in the cities and walk past poverty and pain as if it was inevitable and deserved. It became clear as I saw men who never cut their hair and women who cover their faces in public. Religion gives permission.

It has become even more clear as I have watched the U.S. presidential candidates make their case to the American public.
Each candidate tries to walk a tight line as they say they are religious but their religion won't impact their ability to govern.
That is is a tough sell! Religion does impact everything. Even no religion is a religion. Since Mitt Romney is the first mormon to run for President, I want to know what his religion tells him he can do and not do. This will impact his way of governing if he lives his faith.

Here is what I have come to see. My true religion is whatever or whomever gives me permission to move about life as I do..

Take Osama Bin Laden for an example. His form of radical Islam gives him permission to hate Jews, so he does. His form of Islam gives him permission to enlist suicide bombers, so he does. When he justifies his actions, he always cites his religion.

There was a time in the U.S. when the prevailing Christian religion (as distinct from true faith in Jesus) gave Americans permission to own slaves, so they did.
There was a time in the U.S. when the prevailing Christian religion gave Americans the permission to read the Bible in public schools and open each day in prayer.
The prevailing religion in the U.S. is no longer the Christian view, so the permissions to move about life in the U.S. are being changed almost daily.

Ask yourself where you go to get permission to move about life and you will discover your true religion. This is a great question to ask people if you want to discover what their true faith is in.

Read the sermon on the mount and you will see Jesus saying "You are now free to move about life acting only this way." If Jesus' words are the place where you go for permission to move about life, you are on the path to an unshakeable life.

By the way, Jesus gives us permission to love everyone at all times. Now the challenge in an election year is doing so!

India 2007

Back in 1974 I first visited Brazil. It was my first time to be in another country and really be able to see another culture in action. That first experience of another culture was life changing. My world expanded on that day and I would never be the same.

I have just returned from 8 days in India with my dear friends Mani and Pam Maken and my world has expanded again. Truly, India is nearly beyond description for me. The purpose of my trip was to preach the dedication service of a church building the Makens financed. It is the first Christian structure in the entire history of the city called Deri Bassi.

I have spent my entire life working with the inner life of people in the Americas. Often people in the Americas don't even seem to know they have an inner life. Indians know the inner life exists!

Seeing and experiencing India opened a window on an entirely new level of religious life and thought. Never have I been in a culture that was so openly and passionately religious. I am sure it will take a while to process it all. It was overwhelming.

Here are some preliminary observations....

1. Religion will continue to shape our world. The west (USA and Europe) with their bent toward secular thinking will not be able to stop the religious momentum that continues to build in the east. Getting rid of Christianity will not stop religion from coming west. Getting rid of Christianity will only make the eastern momentum pick up speed. A religious tsunami is headed west.

2. Christian leaders who hope to be relevant in India must address the inner spiritual life questions that eastern religions address every day. Going to heaven when we die is not the question being asked in India. How to have a happy marriage is not number one on the list either. Their arranged marriages for the most part do last. They think heaven and hell are here on earth.

The question I saw being asked was about what does life mean right now and how do I connect with the very real spiritual realm to benefit me today. Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam have clear, if confused, answers for the Indian population. I did not sense the Christian community was truly in this discussion in India. That may be the effect of only being 2% of the population, but I just did not sense the Christians were taken seriously. I know 8 days is not time enough to know this for sure, but my contact with non-Christian Indians made me feel like they don't think we have anything to offer from the west except capitalism.
The non-Christians wanted to talk to me about commerce and capitalism (and Brazilian soccer) but they looked on my title "Pastor" as not very impressive when compared with "Iman", "Priest" or "Guru". No non-Christian asked me to explain Christianity's claims for today. When I tried to get in the discussion they looked at me as if the people from the west have no clue.

3. Ideas have consequences. Indian society is tragically chaotic and unjust. Shocking is not a strong enough word to describe it. " The poor are poor because they need to be poor to learn what they need for their next life" is an idea I heard repeated by some very intelligent religious leaders. This idea has left the poor on their own and it shows. 7 million live in the slums of Delhi where I spent my last night in India.

Interestingly, this idea about poverty being deserved made for a safer environment than Brazil. I guess the poor have accepted their lot in life and do not use their poverty to justify violence toward those who have more. I was in places in India that I would have expected violence to be rampant and found myself being told by Indians who were with me to calm down and relax. In Brazil I would have been looking for a quick way to escape.

4. The Abide Message fits India perfectly. The word satisfaction was made for India. Moment by Moment and 24/7 ring true in India. The door to the Abide Brazil ministry is open in India because abiding is about NOW.

My Father The Farmer

I have just returned from three days teaching the Satisfying Life course and the Six Metaphors of a Happy Marriage series in a nearby state. A small seminary and camp ministry hosted the conference. The group was small but the openness was huge.

As I was teaching at the camp, the farming community that surrounded the camp allowed me to see something entirely new about John 15. It is hard to put into words how this new insight blessed me, but here goes.

Think for a moment about the massive, eternal and revolutionary importance of Christ's teaching and life. Nothing ever has happened that even comes close to God with us in human form. Imagine the last day of Jesus' life. He washes feet, comforts his disciples and prepares them for His coming death and their future of oneness with Him and His Father. Was there ever a more important day to describe everything exactly right?

As Jesus begins John 15 He begins with these words... " I am the true Vine and My Father is the Vinedresser..." There it is.
Everything that has happened through Jesus' perfect life has qualified Jesus to tell us that His Father is a farmer. A farmer. Not a judge. Not a ruler. Not a conquerer. A farmer.
My Father is a farmer, says Jesus, and Jesus is excited about it!

When I saw this, I caught my breath. Have I really understood that God did all He did in Jesus so He could successfully farm here in the world?

Farmers believe they can produce a certain kind of fruit or crop. If they don't believe a crop will come in, they don't plant. Farmers have taken into consideration everything in the environment and they plant believing the harvest can come no matter the circumstances that come. They don't change the environment, they know they can overcome it and harvest.

I mentioned to the students at the seminary that no one plants until someone proves it is worth it. The first to plant a new crop is always accused of being wrong. Jesus was God's proof that sustained human love could grow in this world again. A second Adam had been found. Now with Jesus in us the fruit can appear worldwide. So now God plants us everywhere and we bear Jesus' fruit.

I wonder how different the history of Christianity would have been if the church had always related to the world not as conquerers or judges but as branches of the Farmer? Who do farmers threaten? Who do Vine and branches threaten?

God is farming in this world. Let that thought sink in. Human love can grow right here if Jesus abide in us and we abide in Him. Amazing.

Take a few minutes and think about your concept of God in this world. If you see Him as judge and ruler you must surely be disappointed with what He is not doing. If you think of Him as love's Farmer, keep your eyes open and you will His fruit appearing all over the place.

I am sure the first disciples thought it strange that Jesus would be excited about having a farmer for a Father. Still, when you think about it what more important thing is there to do than sustain and feed the souls of men and women who hunger for love?


2nd photo: Seminary group
3rd photo: Recently planted Vine at the new Abide Center. Click on photos to enlarge.

Discipleship

During a recent trip to central Brazil a pastor took us to see one of the wonders of nature here in Brazil. It is a fruit tree like no other I have ever seen. It is called a jabuticaba tree. The fruit is delicious when eaten right on site.

As Pam and I ate our fair share of this marvelous fruit, we witnessed discipleship in action. The pastor took us to a small farm where a young couple that has just come to Christ met us. They had with them their small son. The pastor wanted us there to influence this young couple. The young couple was hungry and ready to learn.

As you look as these pictures you will see the discipleship process illustrated as Pam and were learning to harvest jabuticaba fruit. The pastor was teaching the new converts. The little boy is learning just like a new Christian must learn to feed himself on God's abundance.

We were all very satisfied!

Bud

Marvelous Metaphor

John 15: 1-8 Marvelous Metaphor
In John 15 it is as if Jesus is saying to me “Listen closely and you will hear and see how spiritual life will work for everyone from now on.”

The words of Jesus are the most important and powerful words ever spoken by human lips. Each time Jesus spoke, God’s eternal intentions for all mankind became clear as they simultaneously appeared as actions through His daily life. Truly His words are “spirit and life” to all who hear them and obey them. Jesus lived what he spoke. He truly was the word that became flesh.

I have known and understood this about Jesus’ words on some level all of my spiritual life but my personal experience with the first 8 verses of John 15 have made me a true believer in the power of Jesus’ words—especially his metaphors. Jesus’ words are the most awesome power on earth and they belong to all who believe.

Jesus promised in John 8 that His words have the power to liberate the human soul if we abide in His words. Jesus knew HIs words were truly the final words on every subject concerning God and human life. He knew because He received and lived each word from His Father and faithfully delivered every word just as He had received them.

On the last day of His life everything Jesus said and did was a coming together of God’s eternal purposes. No detail of Jesus life was unimportant or accidental. Certainly His last words on His last day should hold our attention in a special way. It is clear that He meant for John 15 to be central for His followers. The timing and the tone of John 15 is that of foundational truth for all who would ever follow Him. On that last day it was as if Jesus is leaning close to each of us and saying “Listen closely and you will hear and see how spiritual life will work for everyone from now on.”

On this most wonderful and tragic of all days before His crucifixion Jesus chose to describe the new spiritual reality that was being birthed for mankind by His death, burial and resurrection using a metaphor—the metaphor of God’s new vineyard on earth. Jesus’ use of metaphors, examples and parables is the work of Divine genius. Metaphors have a power to change lives unlike any other form of communication.

I am convinced that the John 15 metaphor is the key to healthy spiritual formation for every generation. Certainly John 15 has been this for me and there is clear evidence in church history that this passage has held tremendous power over all who have sought to truly glorify God and bear fruit that remains. John 15 is life changing when this marvelous metaphor is given its rightful place as the final word of Jesus on spiritual formation and fruit bearing.

Jesus’ use of metaphors began with His very first sermon called the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. This sermon describes a kind of spiritual life that has inspired, informed and infuriated spiritual seekers for nearly 2000 years.

More than an intellectual argument in favor of life found in God, the sermon on the mount is a description of a human life satisfied fully in God. It is the description of the kind of life Jesus would live before His followers. Each metaphor in the sermon paints a picture so the spiritual seeker can hold the infinite truths in place long enough for their power to work their way into the human spirit for permanent and profound life change.

The power of the metaphor is in the fact that it allows an individual to be influenced over time by the truths contained in the metaphor. That is the power of John 15: 1-8. In the metaphor of the Vine and the branches there are essential spiritual truths that can only be understood and lived over time. Jesus knew this and He gave the metaphor at the exact moment when its power was most needed—the last day of His pre-resurrection life.

Meditate on John 15 and you, too, will find it marvelous.

Radio

Tomorrow I am heading to southern Brazil to record 35 more radio programs with my dear friend Edson Bruno. Edson used to be our sound and media technician at the First Baptist Church of West Hollywood, Florida. He now is the director of a great radio station in Joinville, Brazil. Edson returned to Brazil at almost exactly the same time Pam and I returned.

It is a joy to work with such a kind and godly man. Those who remember him will be able to tell that he has lost weight and I have gained it. Life is sometimes just not fair.

Bud

Loyalty and Love

I recently spoke to a group of Brazilian pastors and leaders in northern Brazil. In the group was a living example of love and loyalty. His name is Rev. João Tenório. He is man who was discipled and prepared for ministry by my father-in-law, Byron McCartney, back in the early 1960s.

When he heard that I would be giving a one day leadership seminar this dear man caught a bus and made the four hour trip to spend just a few minutes with me. He was honoring his love and loyalty for the McCartney family. I still am amazed at how loyal Brazilians are to their friends.

Being with this dear man was worth the trip. I pray I will be as loyal to the friends of my friends.

Mike Wells

There are certain people who have had a great impact on my way of seeing spiritual life. One of those people is counselor and author Mike Wells. Mike's ministry, Abiding Life, leads defeated and broken Christians to the permanent cure that exists in Jesus' presence in us moment by moment. The way Mike leads people to this healing place is truly amazing.

Mike was able to spend three days with us at our new Abide Training Center. He was able to help the 40 leaders who were present gain the confidence they need to counsel and disciple. It was truly a blessed experience.

To learn more about Mike's ministry and to order materials, go to abidinglife.com.

My Center Revealed in the Storm

My Center Revealed in the Storm

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid.”
John 14: 27

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in my love.”
John 15:9

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
John 17: 20-21

Jesus promised that His disciples could be as safe, satisfied and successful in the world as He was. Not just in the world to come but in the world as it now is. They all could be as safe, satisfied and successful as He was in the world. He promised.

It is in the direction of this safe, satisfying and successful place that all disciples are to be led by those who disciple them. They are to be led to the safe, satisfying and successful center where Jesus Himself lived. Spiritual directors from ages gone by called this leading process “centering.” Jesus called it abiding.

“Abide in Me, and I in you.” John 15: 4

Every human being lives from some center where they have been led to live. It is the center where they feel their best chance for safety, satisfaction and success can be attained. Discipleship of any kind is about finding and living from this kind of center.

Jesus led His first disciples to His center. He called His center “oneness”.

“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23



The apostles led others to this same center.

"For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me…” Galatians 2:20

The quality of our personal discipleship centering is tested and proven in the very real storms of the world. The storms reveal the quality of our center.

As our personal storms intensify, the quality and durability of the centering of our lives is revealed. The question of Christian discipleship always is “Will the center from where I truly live and find my life remain safe, satisfying and successful as Jesus said it could during the storms?”

Any discipleship centering that is not equally available for all believers 24/7 and moment by moment is less than Jesus lived and promised to all. Oneness means it must be there for all at the same time and in the same quality. We need a universally available center.

Any discipleship centering that cannot deliver and keep its promise for security, satisfaction and success in the storms of life for all is less than Jesus lived and promised to His disciples. Peace (safety), good cheer (satisfaction) and love (success) in the storms is the universal mark of a properly centered or discipled christian. Peaceful, satisfied, relentless love in the world as it is remains the goal of Christian centering or discipleship.



The storms of our personal worlds are intensifying and discipleship systems that have not centered believers in Jesus are failing. As good and necessary as some systems may be to the experience of the church in the real world, they are being revealed as imperfect and inadequate because they are imperfect and inadequate as a equal center for all. Nothing short of a perfect center for all will stand the storms.

Matthew 7: 24-27 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them. I will liken Him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and he winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

As the storms increase the inadequate centers from which disciples attempt to live will leave them out in the storms. The good news is there is still a perfect center in and for every believer. That perfect center is a Person.

Jesus' last command to His disciples about centering people centered in Himself.

Matthew 28:18-20

“All authority is given to Me…. I am with you always.” This universal command begins, centers and ends in Jesus.

Jesus' last words to His disciples left no doubt where the disciple should center themselves and others.

John 15:1-8

“ I am the Vine…You are the branches…Abide in Me…. without Me you can do nothing.”

A branch can only live centered in the Vine.

The Apostle Paul left no doubt about where the true center for his discipleship was and where he led disciples

I Corin. 1:30 “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

I Corin. 2: 2 “For I determined to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”



All discipleship centering that does not lead believers in the perfect, personal, loving, eternal presence of Jesus within will cause people to fail in the storms. They are failing already. Too many are not centered in Jesus. Too many fail to abide.


In a strange way, the sooner these good, important things we have centered people in fail the better. The storms are increasing and the disciples that failed to center their lives in Jesus’ perfect presence within are failing. Those who failed to center disciples in the perfect presence of Jesus have failed Jesus’ followers and Jesus Himself.

It is too late to ask for smaller storms. We need to ask for centered disciples not smaller storms.
We need disciples so centered in Jesus that they, like Jesus, can remain safe, satisfied and successful in the storms. Disciples who can go in the direction of the pain and the storms as unrelenting love are in short supply. Abandoned crosses litter the hallways of our churches.

We need to stop fasting and praying for smaller storms and return to and then live from a perfect, personal center that is constantly overcoming the storms. That perfect center is Jesus—the true Vine. This perfect center is in every believer right now. All other centers, no matter how good and noble, must be abandoned as the center. The storm is here but so is the kingdom.

The centers that will fail are not new but those who redesign them and rebuild them for today’s storms will find themselves and their disciples unprepared for the wind and the rain that is upon us.

Here are a few of the discipleship centering systems that must be abandoned as centers from which we live. No matter how good they may be when used correctly in Jesus’ name, all of them must be abandoned as the center of Christian life. They are not perfect and they are not universally available to every believer so therefore they cannot be the center. They cannot produce oneness.

If you have centered yourself in one of these they will not keep you safe, satisfied and successful in the storm. A storm will come and their imperfection with be revealed.

Abandon them as the center in order to find their true place as servants of the center.

The failing discipleship centers are….



Centering on Jesus’ special leaders.

Centering on safe, satisfying and successful leaders will fail in the storms.

The inscription over this center is “Everything depends on the anointed ones.”

Be near the anointed ones and be safe, satisfied and successful.

The central belief is “Discipleship is in them.”


Centering on Jesus’ special churches.

Centering on safe, satisfying and successful churches will fail in the storms.

The inscription over this discipleship center is “Well led churches take us above or through the storms.”

The central belief is “Discipleship is Mobilization.”

Be led well by them to be safe, satisfied and successful.



Centering on Jesus’ special power..

Centering on Jesus’ power for safety, satisfaction and success will fail in the storms.

The inscription over this discipleship center is “Faith can still every storm.”

The central belief is “Discipleship is supernatural power”.

Be powerful like Jesus to be safe, satisfied and successful.


Centering on Jesus’ special commands

Centering on Jesus’ special commands for safety, satisfaction and success will fail in the storms.

The inscription over this discipleship center is “We must all be the same.”

The central belief is “Discipleship is Conformity as a group.”

Conform together to be safe, satisfied and successful.



Centering on Jesus’ special information.

Centering on information for safety, satisfaction and success will fail in the storm.

The inscription over this discipleship center is “Supernatural information prepares for the storm.”

The central belief is the “Bible information is discipleship.”

Learn the Bible to be safe, satisfied and successful.


Centering on Jesus’ special works.

Centering on the special works of Jesus for safety, satisfaction and success will fail in the storm.

The inscription over this discipleship center is “God is with those who do the good works Jesus did.”

The central belief is “Imitating Jesus is discipleship.”

Imitate Jesus’ works to be safe, satisfied and successful.


A Universal Fact.

No one ever abandons the center from which they live until a better center from which to live appears. Only when a safer, more satisfying and more successful way to live appears will a person make the move to the new center.


Knowing this move is only made when such a center is placed within reach of all, Jesus’ plan for new centering or discipleship is revolutionary. It is beyond special things, people or plans. It is perfect. It is available to all equally right now. In his own words Jesus said it was near. It is within.

Every believer need only look within to find the perfect center from which the Christian life lives. It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Safety, satisfaction and success abide in every believer right now. Safety, satisfaction and success are not a place. It is a living center named Jesus.

How strange it is that we work so hard to build special places to center disciples when the perfect center for all discipleship is a person who abides in every disciple from the moment of new birth. We frantically build outside as if something outside could become perfect enough to be an equal center for all. As we frantically build our new, special cathedrals for centering disciples, centering perfection waits unnoticed and unwanted within.


Whether the reason for building these special Jesus places is good or bad, these very special things and places cannot be the center from which believers live and find safety, satisfaction and success. As centers they must be abandoned. As manifestations of the center, may they grow and be governed from the center!

Make no mistake, many things in which we invest so much of our time and effort can be special. Still, they are never perfect and never available equally to all They are never available equally to all in the storms so they cannot be the center Jesus promised. Anything that is not the same for all cannot produce oneness.

Only abiding in Jesus, who is the center of our lives, makes us all one in the only true safety, satisfaction and success. Centered in Him, let the storms come.

The church is one to the extent that it lives from the same center. That is far beyond the oneness we seek in the special things we do in Jesus’ name.

Jesus is the true center. Are you centered? The storm is upon you. The perfection is within you.



Abide in the true Vine to be safe, satisfied and successful.

“Be of good cheer.”

The Best I am and the Best I have

I have always been fascinated with definitions. Over the years I have come to believe we rise and fall on our definitions because we are constantly interpreting reality according to our definitions.

For example, here in Brazil the definition of a traffic law would be better understood as a suggestion not a a rule. This may not sound like a big deal, but anyone who has driven here will understand that double yellow lines on a highway are mostly for decoration and not obedience. That makes a big difference in the real world. Now that I know that traffic laws here are suggestions, I drive expecting people to do pretty much what they please. When I get back to the USA I change the definition back to a rule and not a suggestion.

How do you define love? Is it a suggestion? A rule? A priority? A life?

One of the best definitions I learned many years ago for love goes something like this....
"Love is behaving toward others the way God has behaved toward us in the person of Jesus Christ."

I have used this definition for many, many years and it has served me well as I have moved through the messy traffic of life.

One of the more recent definitiions I have used is one I have developed personally over time.
"Love is giving relentlessly to another the best one is and the best one has."

Do these two definitions match? I believe they do. God is relentlessly giving us the best He is and the best He has. He is giving us Himself in the person of Jesus. This perfect, relentless love now abides in me so I can begin to relentlessly love in the same way.

When you define love as anything less than Jesus, you just turned love into a suggestion. Love is not a suggestion or a law.
Love is a relentlessly giving person. To love is Christ. To be loved is Christ. The best God is and the best God has is mine and yours right now and relentlessly forever. Relentless love abides in me! Relentless love is what I can now release.

When you read the sermon on the mount the next time you will see that the life being described by Jesus as salt and light is a life of sustained, relentless love. Even our enemies are to receive the best we are the best we have. That is far beyond a suggestion or a rule. It is a life. It is Jesus' life.

The best we are and the best we have is Jesus. The love we give is the love we have received and will forever receive.

Jesus told us to "abide" in His love as He was abiding in His Father's love. Jesus is inviting each of us to live from the best He is and the best He has moment by moment. The fruit of this receiving is relentless love released--the best we are the best we have released for others.

Define love as anything less than Jesus' best for us, in us and through us moment by moment and life's traffic will soon become a source of real frustration and danger.

Someday love will not be a suggestion in the world. We better get used to love now because in the Kingdom of God all traffic flows on love.

Ask 15--China

"God orchestrates our circumstances to educate our faith." Oswald Chambers

From time to time the Lord opens our eyes to His ability to orchestrate circumstances over long periods of time.
Today was one of those eye opening days for me. Today, Oct. 22nd, was also my 40th spiritual birthday! It was a very good day.

I received word this morning from China that the new Satisfying LIfe course I prepared for use in English speaking churches has now been translated into Mandarin Chinese. The way this happened was a God orchestrated event.

Back in the early 80's Pam and I with our young family started the Bible Baptist Temple in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos here in Brazil. This is the same city where we now live and ministry through Abide Brazil ministries. A young couple named Shu and Cida joined our young church.

During our 1987 until 2005 absence from Brazil and this city, we had lost contact with Shu, Cida and their children. Upon returning to Brazil we met again and Shu took an interest in the Abide ministries. He has recently retired from an international career in business which included long stays in China.

When Shu and Cida recently announced they would be visiting their daughter who now lives and works in China, Shu offered to take a copy of the Satisfying Life material with him to see if it could be translated. Here are the two e-mails he sent. I hope you can see God at work.

Dear Pr. Bud,
It has been 3 weeks since I came to Shanghai, 3 blessed weeks. I found a church with some 4000 members, with morning and evening services in Chinese, and 2 afternoon services in English preached by an American pastor, the English service members have also small group meetings during the week. I gave the pastor one copy of the DVD to be used in his small group meetings, and asked him feedback for the material. I gave him the author's permission to make as many copies as needed to be used in the church or SGs, but not for sale.
I also found a young Chinese pastor from a city 4 hours by train from Shanghai, he is a college graduate and took seminary after college. He works in a local church as co-pastor, his English is good and his Chinese is excellent. He writes articles for the local Christian Journal, he gave me a copy of it with his article. So I believe he can make the translation of the booklet without difficulty, and he accepted the challenge. I also gave him a copy of the DVD. I do expect him to finish the work before my return to Brasil. Let's pray God that this happens. After the translation, another friend and sister in Christ will insert all the Bible texts mentioned in the book and put the whole work into digital format. If eveythings works out fine with the help of God, I may have a copy the the book in Chinese in a CD. As we last spoke and if you still agree, I will check the translation after the pastor delivers the work.
Trust that you are well and fine. Best regards in Christ,
Shu

Dear Pr. Carlos, (Bud)

Praise the Lord!! How wonderful God is!! I have just received the translation of the Satisfying Life in Chinese. I reviewed it once and am very happy with the translation, professional job. I have it in digital form and will review it once again in Brasil. I asked him to translate also the DVD, he recommends to use the legenda (words on the screen) instead of the dubing, maintaining the original voice, because most Chinese prefer to watch and listen in English with Chinese characters written on the screen. This should take longer time than the book, but my Christian friend here can take it and mail it to me in Brasil when it's finished.

I know that without God this job could never be done. He prepared the pastor and his heart, not in Shanghai as I originally have thought. I was also impressed by his willingness and readyness to help. God is great, praise the Lord.

Shu

As you can see, God has used a relationship of many years and a lifetime of business contacts to make this happen.
When God plans things and we cooperate, anything is possible.

The picture is of Shu, Cida and their daughter.

Bud