Are We Just Kidding?

Recently i have learned of the following: A church in Kenya which regularly has entire nights devoted to prayer, and whole weeks of prayer and fasting. Read a biography of Leonard Ravenhill, the former British preacher and evangelist and his multiple hours of daily prayer for revival. Discovered the secret of the spiritually healthiest Christian church that I know of personally, located in Porto Alegre, Brazil. One of the two co-founders and pastors has risen at 4AM every morning for the past (50) fifty years for hours of prayer. In forty-five years of life in Christ I have participated in exactly 2 whole nights of prayer, and only 4 times have fasted for a week or more, and i suspect that i am unusual in even that much. The church in the US has well educated leaders who construct carefully nuanced sermons to people who in many cases consider going to a building (including homes)on Sunday, singing a few songs, listening to someone preach, and going home the central core of their faith. We are willing to debate doctrine but relatively unwilling to discipline ourselves for sustained prayer, either individually or in groups. I can find people to go to restaurants but not many to intercede. In retrospect the failure of the house church movement with which i was associated in New England ( 20 groups over 15 years) was that we talked too much and prayed too little. Even when churches have prayer vigils or meetings they are normally poorly attended, and people spend far more time describing their needs than praying about them. Jesus prayed all night. ( Luke 6:12) Paul prayed night and day. (1 Thess 3:10) Epaphras struggled in prayer for the Colossians. ( Colossians 4:12) We are told to "continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." ( Colossians 4:2)Although God has caused me to ramp up my prayers in the last several years, I am convicted that there is far more that I could do.

Comfort Zone Test in Ireland

In the US, and also in Brazil, there is a concept known as the "comfort zone," ( zona da conforto). The comfort zone is the things that we feel comfortable in doing, which means that we have a considerable amount of control over the environment (including the people) around us. We do what we want and don't do what we don't want to do. However this idea conflicts with the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the lives of true believers. Consciously or unconsciously we want to share the throne of our own lives with Him. But Jesus will not share the throne with us, nor should He. A simple test of who is on the throne, and how significant His place is in our lives is when we are taken out of our comfort zone. This can easily happen while traveling. For example, under normal circumstances I control my diet and exercise regimen. While traveling, as i stay in other people's homes, I eat what they give me. ( This often results in constipation) I exercise on their schedule, which often means that I don't. While traveling home from Portugal my itinerary involved a long layover in Ireland. The reasonably priced hotel proved to be a considerable trial. The lights only worked in a manner completely foreign to me, involving putting my room key card into a slot on the wall which resulted in approx. 3 minutes of light before they abruptly shut off again. Try doing this at night after having made a trip to the desk to learn how they functioned. Even diagonally the bed was too short and felt like a slab of rock. The one blanket was too short and the heat in the room could not be adjusted. A sleepless night resulted. Went to the airport 2 hours early, and went through innumerable checks and verifications. Got lost searching for the gate. Thankfully people speak English in Ireland. Went through US Customs in Ireland, which i had not previously experienced having always gone through Customs here in the States. Boarded the plane, waited half an hour on the tarmac, went aloft in my little prison for 7 and a half hours. ( I am too big for the seats) Typical crying babies, and people in various stages of communicable sickness all around me. The in flight entertainment system was virtually unworkable as usual. Luggage was slow, caught the bus to the big bus station, tried to get my phone to turn on, took the wrong exit at the subway, reoriented, dragged my suitcase ( I am no longer young), purchased a ticket to Springfield, the departure gate changed 3 times in 15 minutes, boarded the bus, more sick people and crying babies- singing works sometimes- finally reached my penultimate destination, thankfully my friend was waiting, and snow began to fall on our 45 minute car ride to the house. This morning I had to confess my frustration, anger, failure to minister the gospel etc. amid seeing just how shallow my Christianity can be.

Portugal # 7

The following are observations of various things pertaining to Portugal. The stature of Jesus with arms out wide, mentioned in a previous post, stands on a huge edifice. The total height is approximately that of a 40 story building. On the highways there is a safety measure i have seen no where else. There are a series of V shaped arrows on the pavement at approx. 50 yard intervals. The sign on the side of the road says that to maintain only one interval is dangerous and two is safe. These are repeated every 20 kilometers or so. ( 5 miles = 8 kilometers) With few exceptions houses in Portugal do not have central heating. The only heat is supplied by portable electric room heaters, or on one occasion a small fireplace. While there have not been any temperatures below freezing there have been many days in the 40,s or 50,s F so I find myself wearing five layers of clothes. What they did before electricity i have no idea. Today I was with 2 brothers. We went into a very small antique shop, with 3 small tables and elderly chairs. They had coffee, a type of expresso in a tiny cup, and I had seltzer water. An unusual combination of cafe and store. The windows in the house in which i am staying are protected by a metal sheet with a few perforations. An apparatus with a type of strap is used to raise or lower this device. Every bathroom contains a bidet in addition to the toilet. I still have no idea of their purpose; perhaps i would not want to know.

Portugal #6

In recent days have traveled to other parts of the country. Monday went to the interior about one hour and fifteen minutes from the coast. Visited a city whose spelling i am unsure of that had been the residence of the royal family when Portugal still had one. A republic was proclaimed there in 1910. The town is small but dates at least from the times of the Romans. About a dozen pillars are left from an ancient temple to Diana, mentioned in the book of Acts with regard to the Ephesians. We had a meal with a family that had recently moved there. They live in a little hobbit type dwelling right off a square dominated by an old Catholic church. The following day went north along the coast. This time my host was a native of Portugal who lives in the same town in which he was born. He took me on a tour after we had eaten in a Brazilian buffet type restaurant. The beaches were striking but the wind was cold. Afterwards we went to his home where his wife served us dinner and we watched their soccer team play one from Russia. The major difficulty with this type of ministry is the unending, culturally based imperative that every host and hostess has to shovel as much food as possible into me. I have tried every possible approach to try to persuade them that I simply cannot eat enough for three or four people but nothing works. Of course i do not wish to offend or hurt their feelings but this does get tiresome.

Portugal # 5

This weekend has finally slowed down enough to post. Friday evening was invited to the home of a couple with a almost 4 year old boy. ( His birthday is today) Enjoyed the time with them and another couple from the church here. It seems that it rains every day here, whether a mist or a downpour. I am probably getting the wrong impression of Portugal as a dreary, wet place when in fact it receives over 300 days of sunshine per year. At some point went to a mall whose stores hves primarily English names like "The Athletes Foot," "Wink," "Blueberry," and "Jumbo," the last named similar to a Walmart. Saturday evening was asked to share again, which i did on the importance of prayer. I spoke to one living room of people with a second Skyped in. I met a young man named Victor who speaks English fluently although he has never visited an English speaking country or, to my knowledge, taken a class. The secret as with several other young men of my acquaintance in Brazil, is a very early and heavy dose of English language cartoons, video games etc. Today was more formal preaching with a suit and tie, introduction, sitting in the front row etc. Even though I don't see the reason for this, I respect those who do. I am finding that the Portuguese spoken in Portugal is more similar to Spanish ( the two countries share a long common border) than it is to Brazilian Portuguese which uses many different words for the same thing and pronounces them differently. Thankfully i had a good and some what experienced translator. I have already broken in at least 3 new ones on this trip. Spoke again about the importance of a growing personal relationship with God through Christ. Although I could potentially teach about many other topics, this is the one that I believe that God keeps impressing on me. Prayed longer and more often in preparation than I usually have in the past, and judging from the response by some of the people, the Holy Spirit moved in people's hearts. Today's memory verse is Hebrews 1:3 "He (Jesus)is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." (ESV)

Portugal #4

Over the last several days traveled to the Algarve, an area along Portugal's southern coast, and back. One major difference between Portugal and most of Brazil is that the former has good multi lane highways, which are not busy. Anderson, the pastor of the church here and I, along with two young adults, traveled down Thursday morning. We were met by a Portuguese brother named Joao, who led us to a little cafe hidden away in Lagos that only locals would know about, which had superb hamburgers for a reasonable price. Afterwards we went to an area ofcliffs hollowed out by the wind and surf. Anderson\s son Paulo and I descended a series of steps to the beach. On our return I counted 194 steps. Eventually we went to the home of Miguel where a portion of the church had gathered. They played one worship song from the Internet on the TV screen. Then I was asked to preach. In recent days I have been powerfully affected by the Holy Spirit to seek the Lord in a more determined and sustained manner so I spoke about knowing God. The greatest commandment ( Mark 12\30 reflects this as do many other verses. ( Phil 3\8, John 17\3) If preaching is proclaiming and teaching is explaining, then God has me doing a lot more preaching these days. This morning we had breakfast with Joao and his family, and then a second repast with a brother Christiano and his wife. I was asked to pray for a number of individuals. Thankfully I have some facility to do this in Portuguese. On your way back we traveled through a lot of farm and grazing land. Unfortunately I am ignorant of this and although i can identify a cow or a sheep, I don't know what is being grown or planted. Today\s new memory verse reallychecked my approach to prayer. Hebrews 5\7 says that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears, and was heard because of His reverence. (ESV)

Portugal # 3

God is good| He is drawing me into His presence by giving me an intense hunger for personal time with Him in prayer. Confession, intercession, praise, and intimacy are such a blessing. Yesterday went to another city and met with a pastor named Samuel, a former missionary to Mozambique, whom I had met in Brazil. He and a group of his elders and leaders gathered together. I shared with them onthe prayers of Paul for the churches. His son Andre translated for me although I kept gettingexcited and bursting into Portuguese. Was very difficult to understand the European Portuguese accent which is very different from Brazilian Portuguese. Later that night saw a recent movie about the life of Jesus. The actor portraying Him seemed too casual to me, almost like a hippie, instead of a Man coming to preach and suffer for the Kingdom of God. Am continuing to read, much more slowly now, a biography about Leonard Ravenhill, a British evangelist and preacher of revival. One of the many quotes of his from the book resonates strongly with me. We don't pray for revival because we are content without it." How stunningly true. Portugal does not seem very different than Brazil to me so far. Perhaps slightly more affluent. The other night visited a brother in the hospital who had suffered a heart attack. I had met him in a business people's conference in Brazil. Had an opportunity to both pray for and read part of Psalm 1 to him. He was released later that night. The previous night shared about the love of God from the perspective of God decisively proving His love for us through sending Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins.

Portugal # 2

I am adjusting to Brazilian culture again through the Brazilians that i am with in Portugal. Five or six meals a day instead of three, always taking photos, talking with animation and staying up late are some common characteristics. I need the excitement to get out of my normal staid life. This morning we went to Belem ( Bethlehem) a neighborhood of Lisbon. We crossed the 25th of April bridge, which resembles the golden Gate in San francisco although not as wide because it crosses a river instead of a bay of the ocean. We parked opposite a huge monastery, apparently still in use, after passing by the Presidential palace guarded by two men with antique uniforms and swords. We also walked by the river and saw a monument dedicated to early Portuguese explorers, and an ancient tower, which used to guard the city. We saw the outside of a museum dedicated to those who fought in the tragic effort to preserve Portugal's overseas colonies, principally Angola, during the same period in which the US was fighting its equally tragic war in Vietnam. We walked along a wall with thousands of names of soldiers who had died in the war. Have had a joyous day reading the Bible in English ( 2 Thessalonians), Portuguese ( in 2 Chronicles), reviewing Bible memory verses, preparing a teaching on the love of God, and most of all praying. The biography of Leonard Ravenhill, which i am reading now, speaks eloquently and powerfully of the importance of seeking God and entering His presence. The Word of God is anointed; we need to be anointed to use it.

Portugal : 1

. Thursday morning at 11 in the morning began my travel to Portugal. One car ride, one bus ride, one subway ride and one flight later i arrived at the Dublin, Ireland airport at about 5 in the morning. Ten hours would elapse before my next flight. Although this was the least expensive ticket that I could find, somehow i have to plan better the next time. Part of the problem is putting a 6'3"frame in an economy plane seat for an extended period. I have never been able to sleep on planes. To my surprise all the signs in the airport were in both Gaelic and English. Although i understand that the original language of the country was Gaelic, I did not think it was being used much anymore. But at least they speak English. As is probably the case in all airports, having a captive audience means high prices for everything but i did have a box of high protein energy bars. Finally at 3 boarded the flight to Portugal and arrived in Lisbon a little before six. My friend Anderson and his young adult son Paulo met me at the airport. Originally from Brazil, Anderson was sent out as a missionary eight years ago. Now God has blessed him with a church of both Brazilians and Portuguese. I will meet them and preach on Sunday. We had a good conversation in Portuguese as he took me to the home of two Brazilians who lived in the US for many years who have now emigrated here. Danilo and Dayane speak good english although I prefer to practice Portuguese. I was exhausted and went to bed early. Today Anderson came and we went for a little sightseeing. They live across the broad Tagus river from Lisbon in a suburb. There is a huge edifice surmounted by a statue of Jesus resembling the famous one in Rio de Janeiro. I don't know how to guess heights but i think maybe 300 feet in all. We also had beverages in a little cafe hewn out of the side of a cliff overlooking the river. The temperature was 55 or so, clear until evening when rain began to fall. Am reading a biography of Leonard Ravenhill, the British preacher and evangelist. It is already impacting me. He wanted to be known as a man of prayer before anything else.

Comfort Zone

Recently I was praying and God showed me the primary reason that He wanted me to go to Europe and South America was to get me out of my personal "comfort zone." In the US I understand the language and the culture. If i need to go somewhere He has given me a car. If I need to communicate there is a phone. I eat the food that i want and set my own schedule. I am not dependent. When i travel i often don't understand what is being said in Portuguese, don't pick up on the cultural cues, am dependent for transportation, food, lodging etc. Often I am the tail wagged by the dog. I need to be flexible with people who don't think or do things the way that I do. However God uses this reality to work in me in a different way than He does here. Similarly a short term missions team often does not know the language or the culture or have skills relevant to the place and people that they visit. The real work of God is in those who go especially if they travel to a poor country and see the difference between our hedonism, affluence and entertainment driven culture and that of people focused on survival. Our human tendency is to crave comfort and ease. One of our common sayings in leaving someone is, "Take it easy." Or we say, "Don't work too hard." Yet we see Biblically that God does not promise things will always be "good." In fact the Scripture says, " Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God." ( Acts 14:22) Crisis can bring us much closer to God than smooth sailing.