Prayer and Solutions

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 6, His opening words drew attention to the fact that there is another KIngdom where the will of God is done all the time. His words were.... "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your Name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Recently as I was praying this prayer, it came to me that what we keep wanting God to do is already being done in Heaven.
The fact that it is not being done on earth is not because He is unwilling. It is because the conditions are not right on earth. Mankind does not want to do what He wants to do. What should be happening here is because man will not cooperate with God's will.

Often I hear people really get frustrated at God's seeming lack of willingness. I, too, have been frustrated with God's seeming lack of interest or willingness to act. Jesus' prayer sets the record straight. There is a place where His will is done and we should pray that this world would become such a place.

My cooperation with God's will as revealed in Jesus' words is a start. Imagine the world if for one day everyone did the will of God. What kind of day would that be? How many things would immediately change? Imagine your private world with you doing the will of God moment by moment.

I believe that knowing there is a place where His will is being done is the best place to start our prayers. It focuses us on the fact that the same kind of kingdom is coming to this world. We need to become personally engaged with this new kingdom right now. It is just a start, but it is certainly a taste of greater things to come.

The Abiding Experience retreat

This past weekend we were able to enjoy our first retreat for 2007. We have six planned for this year in cooperation with the First Baptist Church of Sao Jose dos Campos. Twenty three people spent two nights at the camp in the mountains and we spent over 10 hours together learning more about the experience of Abiding moment by moment satisfied in Christ.

The camp setting and absence of distractiions made this a wonderful time in the lives of all who paticipated. This concentrated dialog about the perfect sufficiency of Jesus in our lives is an effective way to focus, inform and inspire. It was a very, very good time indeed.

Discipleship

Every now and then I read something that is so well said that I just want everyone I know and love to read it. Today I read just such a statement. Author Mike Wells in his new book HEAVENLY DISCIPLESHIP, makes the following statement on the back cover of the book:

"Generally the concept of discipleship follows a consistent model. First the determination is made about what is lacking in the disciple, and then attempts begin to try to fill that insufficiency. In short, dicipleship has deteriorated to the effort of putting something into a person. Heavenly discipleship begins from a different paradigm. First, it believes that the fulness of Christ exists in every believer, and second, the task of every disciple-maker is to reveal that great truth. Discipleship is not putting Christ or His characteristics into a person but rather revealing the Christ that dwells in a person. It is not working for but from. When a disicple works for what he already has, he will lose that which he has."

This new book by Mike Wells is available through the website Abidinglife.com

If you are ready for a paradigm of abundance and life, read the book. If you want to learn to disciple people in this way, come to Brazil in August and we will learn together.

Receiving and Releasing

One of the most important aspects of the Abiding Life is to receive well from God as the starting place for all activity for God.
As Jesus said in John 6 "This is the work of God that you believe in Him who He has sent." To believe is to receive. In order to believe we have to drop our barriers and accept what is coming our way as good and true. To abide is to always be looking to Jesus as the source of what good and true and brings life. He is all that and more!

Once we begin to learn to receive well our lives pick up speed of activity not in order to receive but in order to release what has been received. We work from and not for. We see ourselves releasing what grace has provided freely. This kind of activity is not nearly as stressful to the one working. It is not so stressful because the pressure to produce has been replaced by the joy of receiving.

When groups of people live this kind of reality together, the most amazing exhanges of life and resources begin to occur. Suddenly we become interconnected by releasing what we have received. A community of intense and joyful receiving and releasing is made visible and God is glorified.

The pictures attached to this blog are the result of a community of branches receiving and releasing together. As we have connected with God's desire to release we have been connected together in a wonderful ministry of releasing together. Pam and I are joyfully releasing in Brazil into a visible construction project where people will come to be taught to abide. As they abide they, too, will release with us and our Vineyard will grow and grow here in Brazil and across the world.

If you are not in this enjoyable process with us it is simple to join. Just ask the Father in the name of Jesus to give you something to release for others through Abide Brazil. When it comes, release it and we promise to pray the same prayer about you and your world. We want to be connected with you through God!

The pictures show what will soon be the Abiding Life Training Center in the mountain city of Campos do Jordãõ here in Brazil. It is on the camp property where our retreats will be held. This remodeled house will also be the site of our first ever Abiding Coaches training here in Brazil August 9-19, 2007. We hope to host at least 15 people from the USA and other countries who want to learn to be capable of discipling others in the Abiding Life Jesus described in John 15.

Orlando Marriage Seminar

Nearly two years ago a group of families were sent out from the First Baptist Church of West Hollywood to begin the Church@theVine in Kissimmee, Florida. Today that church numbers over 100 and is having a great impact on the community.
Pastor Billy Rollins and the church plant team invited Pam and I to conduct their first ever marriage seminar.

It was amazing that a church of just over 100 could gather 20 couples for a six hour course. It was beautiful to see a new church touching so many lives.

Miami Marriage Seminar

Pastor Russell Johnson and the entire International Bible Baptist Church family in Miami, Florida hosted a Six Metaphors of a Happy Marriage Seminar taught by Bud McCord the weekend of February 2nd-3rd. Over 50 couples representing six area churches participated in the six hour course.

The IBB team not only hosted the conference in cooperation with Abide Brazil ministries, they also translated the course into Spanish. The seminar was simultaneously translated from English to Spanish.

The course is designed for use in Abide Partner churches to enhance their ministries to couples in their church and surrounding community. Plans are already "in the works" for January and February 2008 to see the course given in 8 Abiding Partner churches to bless couples and support the Abide Brazil seminar ministry in Brazil.

Micah Brewer

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Micah Hayden Brewer. Rachel and Mark are doing well and grandparents Bud and Pam are enjoying the never ending pleasure of seeing life go on and on. In the words of C.S. Lewis "Nothing good enough or bad enough can be said about life." This is the good part!

Love and Generosity

For the past month Pam and I have been in the USA visiting family and our abide partners. We have experienced something Jesus promised when he told His followers that anyone who left family or home to follow Him would have many homes and an expanded family. We are living proof of this spiritual reality.

Pam and I have no home in the USA and we live the majority of the year over 5000 miles from family. Upon arrival in the USA on December 18th we began to see Jesus' promise coming true. We have literally been taken into homes, fed more food than we could or should ever eat, been loaned cars and blessed on an hour by hour basis.

Though this type of life has been strange to us after 18 years in our own home and leading a local church, we are blessed to be in this situation. We have seen Jesus' words come true day after day. We are truly rich living in, through and for Him.

Love and generosity are directly linked. It is impossible to say we love someone and not open our hearts. If open hearts mean love is in actiion, we have seen a lot of love this past month.

When we return to Brazil our home is a place of refuge for many and our table is a sacred space for others. We love being on the giving end, but we all need to be on the receiving end to see all of love's many beautfiful manifestations.

Just imagine what it will be like to be in a place someday where love is really free to flow! It will be beyond our wildest imaginations. For now, this little taste of love has been a joy for us.

The attached pictures are just a few reminders of some who who loved us along the way in the USA.

A Sacred Space

The camp facility that Abide Brazil ministries will use as our "home" for the coming years has a wonderful, yet sad history.
The camp was originally a hospital for Brazilians fighting tuberculosis.

Run as a cooperative effort among several evangelical churches the hospital received patients who were literally fighting for their lives. The cold mountain air gave hope for a cure, but the disease separated loved ones from their families for years at a time. To walk on the beautifuly camp grounds it is hard to imagine how many people spent day after day restricted to this small place in the world. They could not leave until they were healed.

The state of the human soul is also powerful enough to separate us from family and friends for years. Though we may live in the same house or even attend the same church, we can be separated by sicknesses of the soul and spirit.

I believe God is going to use this camp to heal people in a new way. People will learn to abide and then they will be free to go home and meet their families, the church family and society in a new and healthy way.

Open doors

The vision of Abide Brazil Ministries has always been to encourage Brazilian leaders to lead while enjoying a barrier-free relationship with the True Vine, Jesus Christ. From the beginning we have believed this kind of leadership teaching and influence can only happen if busy leaders stop their normal level of effort and get quiet enough to hear about a better way of leading.

For this reason we have searched for a place to meet with pastors in a mountain city about an hour from where we live. The original idea was to own a bed and breakfast location or invest in a camp property where accomodations for couples could be added. The cost of developing and maintaining such a facility has always been the sticking point.

Now the Lord has seen fit to team Abide Brazil ministries with an already existing camp facility with a proven track record for caring and encouraging leaders. The EBENEZER camp led by Josmar and Mariza has agreed to do several remarkable things to help Abide Brazil begin to influence and bless leaders. (Check out their website in portuguese at acampamento.com.br)

First, they have agreed to develop more apartments for couples on the camp property. Abide Brazil will partner in the fundraising for these apartments but the main investment will be from the camp owners and their supporters. Second, the camp has offered Abide Brazil the use of a home on the camp property. This home will be remodeled and furnished by Abide Brazil Ministries at a cost of about $17,000.00 and will be used rent and maintenance free for at least 4 years.

The home sits at the main entrance to the camp and will give the ministry two offices, a conference room and a meeting area for up to 8 couples. The meeting area will be built on as an addition to the existing house and is included in the $17,000.00 cost.

The house is over 70 years old and was once used a part of a hospital complex run by evangelical churches to help patients battle tuberculosis in the 1930's and 1940's. Now the house will help heal souls!

The fundraising for this project is our number one priority as we come to the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007. Renting and maintaining this space would cost far more than the $17,000.00 remodel costs to update the house. The camp directors are allowing Abide Brazil to use these facilities because they believe in the abide message and they, too, believe the time is right to influence an entire generation of Brazilian leaders.

Now is the time to act on this great opportunity. Donations for this project can be sent to International Bible Baptist Church
17701 N.W. 57th Av. Miami, FL. 33055. Be sure to make checks payable to the church and clearly designate the gift---Camp Remodel Abide Brazil. All gifts are tax deductable.

You can make a difference right now in Brazil. We need your help and so do Brazilian leaders.

(click on photos to enlarge.)

Spiritual formation

We have just completed our first 16 week course on Spiritual Formation. The goal of the class was to equip people in our church to disciple people based on Galatians 4:19 where the Apostle Paul talks about "Christ formed" in us. We meet over a 16 week period for an hour and a half every Tuesday night. What a great and diverse group!

Joy!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one is worth even more. The joy of seeing over 103 people baptized in a single day was beyond words. Even the word awesome doesn't quite work.

Old and New

One of the amazing things about the Christian life is the incredible opportunity we each have to connect with people in the name of Jesus. I am convinced the key to friendships in to have a common interest with someone else. The common interest creates the opportunity for a friendship to develop.

This past week Pam and I had a wonderful experience of teaching our new course on Abiding to Tsai and Elza who are "old" friends from our first church planting experience back in the 1980's. Tsai came to our church early in its existence and brought his girlfiend Elza. He was a follower of Jesus but she needed a little help seeing Jesus as her perfect Saviour. It was our privilege to help her see and she believed. Today they are faithfully serving the Lord as a couple and now want to teach the Abiding course to others.

I also travelled to a new Brazilian city and made new friends. The connecting point was our common interest in Jesus. What a wondeful benefit deep and lasting friendships are among all who find Jesus deeply interesting.

November update

Click on Update to enlarge

The Human Dilemma-the Human Solution

God's original plan for the world was human dominion through constant fellowship with God. This was plan "A" and there is no indication that plan "A" has been changed. There is no plan "B". All solutions that will ever reach this planet will come through humans cooperating with and enjoying God.

Jesus is the "second Adam". He is not a plan "B" because God's first plan was flawed. Jesus is the new face of plan "A". All plan "A" needs to work are humans 100% satisfied in God 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Jesus showed this new face of plan "A" and all who want to return are now free to do so with Jesus.

When Jesus said his disciples would do greater works than He had done, he was referring to the worldwide expansion of plan "A". Men and women satisfied in God are back! Loving, human solutions are back as we abide in Jesus.

The church is the bride of Christ. The church is the new face of plan "A" as well. Just as surely as the first Adam needed Eve, so, too, the second Adam needs his bride. As the church lives in love and shows itself loyal to the second Adam, the original plan of God begins to make itself more and more known in the world. Because of Jesus and his bride, plan "A" is working again.

The reason love is so important among the followers of Christ is because love is the mark of plan "A" back in action. Love solves problems that matter to those we love. God will not solve human problems without humans living plan "A" through Jesus who is God's visible commitment to his original plan. God will not intervene on earth apart from human participation. That is His only plan. That is why Jesus had to come was the Word made flesh. That is why each of is important right now.

Sometimes people think God had to send Jesus to earth because plan "A" failed. No, God sent Jesus to earth because God's plans will never fail. Once we know what God's plan "A" is we would be very wise to never suggest a plan "B". If the first Adam had understood the unchanging nature of God's plans, then plan "A" would be working as planned and he could have avoided death which was not a part of plan "A".

I am sure the first Adam is one of the second Adam's biggest fans. After all, the first Adam was the first to find out that plan "A" is the only plan. I know the first Adam never thought there would be a plan "B". He just couldn't figure out where the right man would come from to recover plan "A". We now know who that man is and so does Adam #1. God became man and dwelt among us and we saw the glory of plan "A" in action saving the world.

In Jesus, plan "A" never looked or worked better!

Southern Brazil

Pam and I have just returned from a couple's retreat in Southern Brazil. The First Baptis Church of Curitiba invited us to conduct the ABIDING EXPERIENCE course for 135 couples at their annual retreat. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and see a new part of Brazil.

The impact of the course was significant. The simplicity of the John 15 metaphor takes people by surprise. They are impacted by its simplicity and its depth. These words coming directly from Jesus on the last night of His life among His first disciples really communicate how the Christian life works 24X7.

Southern Brazil is beautiful. The entire region is heavily influenced by German culture. It has a European feel to it that makes it seem better organized and calm. We hope to return again.

Finally!

The original vision we had for the Abide Brazil ministry has been to very deeply influence Brazilian pastors and leaders to lead while abiding in the perfect life and presence of the VINE, JESUS CHRIST. We have always believed this would require a long and profound dialog about the life of Jesus that now is in every believer.

This dialog can begin by preaching sermons or writing letters, but it really needs to be shared face to face with no rush and no distraction. This goes against our normal plan for impacting many people, but it is the truest form for real discipleship. To disciple others we must share our lives with them and they must share their lives with us. This kind of influence is not easy, cheap or shallow. In reality, it is slow, painful and expensive. Still, it is the only way I know that truly produces an abiding follower of Jesus.

After an intensive and intentional process of connecting with Brazilian pastors and leaders, we are pleased to say that our first Abiding Experience retreat was a wonderful fulfillment our dream to bless Brazilian leaders. Even though the retreat was for only 24 hours, it was life forming and life changing. I believe these pastors and leaders are committed to leading while enjoying a barrier-free relationship with the living presence of Jesus in them. They see and believe that it is the presence of Jesus that provides them with life, identity, satisfaction, capacity and opportunity. They see and believe that they must set the speed of their lives and ministry in accordance with their ability to be quiet before God moment by moment. They want to abide because they hear Jesus saying "without Me you can do nothing."

For all who have prayed and sent the funds that make this ministry possible, we rejoice with you for what Jesus has done and is doing here in Brazil.

The harvest

For over 25 years I have read almost on a daily basis from the daily devotional book MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. The 365 readings based on the teaching of Oswald Chambers has been food for my soul, spirit, mind and heart.

This morning I was reading the devotional once again and saw something I had never truly seen and understood before.
In the reading for October 16th Chambers draws attention to the verse in Matt. 9:38 which says "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." He goes on to make this statement "He (God) owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap."

What caught my attention is what produces the harvest--Distress and Conviction--and who is the Lord of this process--Jesus' Father. Jesus clearly says God is the Lord of the harvest. God wants what distress and Conviction produce in human lives.

A harvest is something one wants and is willing to invest in. For the harvest God desires to come in, men and women must be put into distress and conviction. God uses pain to prepare the harvest. God is the Lord over pain. Pain is not a mistake on God's part. It is a strategy of harvest.

Perhaps the laborers are so few is because we do not want to go in the direction of the world's distress and conviction. Perhaps we do not like to think that God is involved in such things. It seems to me that the natural direction for most humans is away from distress and conviction. Yet, that is where the harvest God wants is waiting to be harvested.

God is the Lord over human distress and conviction. Jesus certainly went where the distress and conviction left people ripe for His message. Going in the direction of the world's distress and conviction is the right direction for those who can see what God is after. God wants souls that are ripe to be saved from their lives without Him.

October 2006 Update

Click on image to enlarge

Metaphors of a Happy Marriage

Pam and I have just returned for four intense and wonderful days in the city of Goiania in the interior of Brazil. A group of 33 couples from a wonderful church invited Abide Ministries to teach our new course "Six Metaphors of a Happy Marriage." This six hour course is being wonderfully received here in Brazil and I am translating it into English for future use.

I believe that the best way to change behaviour is to change the metaphors that we each use to hold life "still" long enough to make decisions and adjustments. Jesus gave us the metaphors for living and the Bible is filled with God's metaphors for life.
For instance, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden was the easily seen image Adam and Eve were given to consider concerning how to live or die in God's creation. They picked the tree as their metaphor for living and we all died. Metaphors are powerful. We should all check our metaphors to see if they are from God before deciding anything.

Travel here in Brazil is tiring and even dangerous at times. Even so, we know "The Lord is our Shepherd...."