2011 Rehash

Back by popular demand, here is the much anticipated 2011 Rehash in quotes and notables.

Ok, so no one demanded it. Or requested it but I´ll go ahead and give it to you anyway. Gratis.

2011 held many things, notable and mundane. Moments of victory and moments of failure. Hardships and bounty and of course way too many fleshly moments of self addiction.

It was a notable year for us in that we did something we have done almost yearly since we have been married- we moved.

It was notable in ministry experience that was completely brand new and stretching. It was notable for the visitors we hosted in our home and for the places we were able to visit.

It was notable for a ministry transition that pointed at complete unravel but in the end, went exceptionally smoothly. It was remarkable in milestones for a congregation of people in Estância Velha.

It was notable because God began to plant in my heart a deep and profound love for His church, his body and the people who are a part of the building.

And it was notable in the following quotes that at the time I thought were significant enough to write down throughout the year. It is not all of them. Some of them I already recorded here on the blog or on my facebook page. If you cannot speak Português, use a good translator. The quotes in Português are the best. Here they are, leave your comments if you want.

Greatness happens, not in the great conquests or achievements but in the mundane and simple moments of everyday. The moments when discipline and self control take advantage of every opportunity and build a lifetime´s worth of achievements.  

Sanctification will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth and an immense broadening of all our interests in God.  

We have gotten so commercialized  that we only go to God for something from Him and not for Himself. 

It is a miserable commercialized self interest. OC

Tentavamos a estimular a evangelização principalmente por meio do ensino e da meditação no proprio evangelho, e não por meio de aprendermos métodos de compartilhá-lo. MD

Uma evidência de que uma igreja pode não ter um entendimento bíblico da conversão e da evangelização é esta: o número de membros é bem maior do que o número de pessoas que participa dos cultos. MD

Conflict Resolution 

1. Define the basic problem

2. Define agreements

3. Define disagreements

4. Identify my contribution to the problem.

5. How can I change to help resolve the problem?

Overcoming Sin

a) Identify what God says 

b) Identify the hope that God gives. 

c) Make a Plan for how to gain victory

-what will you put off

-what will you put on

- what thoughts, words, actions, need to be different

A visionary: someone who can see what is coming and be able to adjust to it. someone who can see what is coming and change the outcome. someone who is a visionary starts in his own family.

Nossas igrejas também precisam registrar a centralidade da Palavra de Deus na oração. A música é uma resposta, exigida biblicamente à Palavra de Deus. Mas, a música que Deus nos deu, Ele não a deu para que sobre ela edifiquemos nossas igrejas. Uma igreja edificada sobre a música, de qualquer estilo, é uma igreja edificada sobre areia movediça. MD

The great point of Abraham´s faith in God was that He was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter to what belief he went contrary. Abraham was not a devotee of his convictions or he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. OC

O Cristão nunca deve permitir que o adversário o derrube, a não ser sobre seus joelhos. 

It is not only wrong to worry, it is infidelity, because worrying means that we do not think God can look after the practical details of our lives. OC

The secret of a disciple´s life is devotion to Jesus Christ ... it is like a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape. OC

The continual grubbing on the inside to see whether we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, morbid type of Christianity, not the robust simple life of a child of God. 

• the best sermon you can preach is your life. 
• effective ministry is a lot more than programs
• you are a team. each member brings strengths to the team. each member brings weaknesses to the team

sabemos que uma pessoa é discipulada quando começar a discipular outra pessoa. 

Col. 3:12-13- Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. The implication is that we do not have to go to the mat over every issue and offense. We all sin in many ways and while often the loving thing to do is to confront, sometimes the best course of action is to recognize the weakness of {my brother}, refuse to be offended by their sin and bathe them in love. GG

Servi uns aos outros conforme de que cada um recebeu, como bons administradores da multiforma graça de Deus. 1 Ped. 4:10.

Mortificação não significa substituir um pecado por outro, pois todo pecado é digno de morte. Por fim, vitórias ocasionais sobre o pecado não constituem mortificação do princípio do pecado. JM

So ... those of you who like pictures, will have to wait for a different post. Thanks for reading. What do you think?

Home Assignment 004

Some things are obvious, others are not so obvious. 

It is finally snowing in Minnesota. . . 

Nebraska and Kansas were as golden brown and dry as ever. 

God has given us wonderful role models in our family. 

Holidays with the family have been fantastic. We generally debated college football and theology, played games, watched football, and drank too much coffee. Mom Johnson and the brother and sister(s) who married into the family endured us. 

I have not done a good job keeping this blog up to date in recent months. 

We love South Dakota but we are officially big city people. 

I love the Toyota we are driving. I have never driven a car that gets so many miles per gallon. Thanks Dad Ortler! 

Real homesickness for Brazil set in last week. This week our mission family is together for their annual reunion. We have been at most of those reunions for almost 10 years. This year we miss it. 

2012 is going to be a great year. 

Whoever had the original idea of furlough did not have small children. 

ElliAnna has her fourth birthday next week. She won a coloring contest at a local bank right before Christmas. There were three entries and two of them won. 

Sometimes I feel like a sales person as I make phone calls and write emails to pastors and churches in the hopes of being able to schedule a meeting. Being a missionary does require a serious network. Growing up west of the Mississippi river, er west of the Missouri river, is a serious handicap. 

There is a certain academic bigotry exercised in higher education against Bible Institutes. I think I give credence to that bigotry. 

My wife is exceptionally patient. 

The Gospel is more about righteousness (Christ´s that is) and less about going to heaven. 

Worth a Second Look

I first saw this video a couple of years ago. The Gospel is amazing!

Home Assignment 003

The days are fast approaching now- though today we are in the lull before the storm, some packing things have to wait until the last day or two, everything else is just about packed up. We embark on a farewell tour this week- all of the invitations for meals and fellowship are very special.

The visa status remains unchanged, except for the number of days where action can happen on that front- 9 business days counting today. Thanks for praying! 

We´re still working with a few open dates in our scheduling, two weeks in January, one in February that we´d like to fill up if God directs. We´re thinking Minnesota, Wisconsin or border states if possible. Thanks for praying about that too. 

  

 Here are a few random fotos from Florianopolis. We´ll call this the "Drive-By-Album." There isn´t much more to it than that.

Home Assignment Update 002- and a few pictures

 Hot off the presses (well it actully hasn´t gone to press yet but it is starting to make its rounds) the português version of our prayer card. Here are a few thoughts on our furlough plans as they now stand:

• The boxes are slowly starting to get filled and prepared for storage. Question- what product is the best to fight mold but not make everything stink? We´re thinking chalk- any ideas? 
• We have a small army of volunteers who are willing to help on moving day. (October 29) The body of Christ is special. 
• We will be at three "churrascos" this weekend. Can any one say, "carne"?
• Our visas have NOT been approved yet. Thanks for praying regularly about that! 
• 13 churches have confirmed meetings
• 17 have yet to answer my email or phone call
• One interested buyer has approached us about our car

I have not posted pictures in a while- here are a few highlights from the last few weeks- 

One ElliAnna´s best friends- Artur

Florianópolis here we come? We´ll see what God has in store for us and this island city. Thanks to Phil and Rachel Stucky who facilitated our trip and the research we were able to do there. 

Franciele quoted all 22 verses perfectly. She is planning to be baptized in December. 

Carter´s best friend, Tio Erick

Semana de Farroupilha in Estância Velha- Gaúcho heritage week. 

Arnie and Rube came to see us- agian. We had a great time with them. 

OC: The Key to the Missionary Message

So- it has been over ten years since I first read through Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest." This year I resolved to read it again. Like most devotionals of this stripe, you have to pick and choose and read around a few doctrines- especially the mysticism or what I like to call personal revelation that is experiential but not biblical- I digress. Every once in a while he has a real gem and October 15th is one of them. It is especially relevant to missions in neo-pentecostal, post-catholic Brazil. I might add that in the second paragraph he hits the nail on the head in today's politically-sensitive church in North America (at least as I observe some of it from a distance).

Here it is- Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" October 15:

"The key to the missionary message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus. Take any phase of Christ's work-the healing phase, the saving and sanctifying phase; there is nothing limitless about those. "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!"-that is limitless. The missionary message is the limitless significance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is one who is soaked in that revelation.

The key to the missionary message is the remissionary aspect of Christ's life, not His kindness and His goodness, and His revealing of the Fatherhood of God; the great limitless significance is that He is the propitiation for our sins. The missionary message is not patriotic, it is irrespective of nations and of individuals, it is for the whole world. When the Holy [Spirit] comes in He does not consider my predilections, He brings me into union with the Lord Jesus.

A missionary is one who is wedded to the charter of his Lord and Master, he has not to proclaim his own point of view, but to proclaim the Lamb of God. It is easier to belong to a coterie which tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, easier to become a devotee to Divine healing, or to a special type of sanctification, or the the baptism of the Holy [Spirit]. Paul did not say-"Woe is unto me, if I do not preach what Christ has done for me," but-"Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." This is the Gospel-"The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" "