March 20, 2010
Aventura Brazil!
During our first term as missionaries in Brazil it was our privilege to host four church groups as they visited Brazil. But what to do if your church youth-group is not planning a missions trip?
Three of my esteemed colleagues have come up with the answer: Aventura Brasil!
From July 21 to August 10 of this year they will host a group of young people from the US as they learn Brazilian culture, experience missions first-hand, and participate in a host of exciting activities.
Their purpose, as stated on their website:
To give young people a mission adventure by immersing them into a foreign culture and language under the careful guidance of experienced missionaries. The ultimate purpose is to challenge them to consider career missions.
If this sounds like the adventure you have been waiting for, meander on over to the site and check it out.
Talk back to the missionary: Ever been on a missions trip? Tell us about it in the comments section.
Posted by Andrew at 12:01 PM
//
Comments: 0 //
TrackBack: 0 //
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //
March 19, 2010
Book Review: Tithing by Douglas LeBlanc
It was with great interest that I chose Tithing
The title of the book leaves no mystery as to it's subject. The subtitle--"test me in this"--lets us know right up front that the author thinks tithing is for today. Rather than a detailed biblical exposition, however, LeBlanc opts to go the "personal testimony" route. Thus the book is divided into eleven chapters (and an epilogue), each featuring a different person or group of people telling about how they were blessed by the practice of tithing.
As I opened the book, the first thing that caught my eye was that the forward was by Phyllis Tickle, madre superior of the Emergent Church. Then my attention was drawn to the fact that Tithing is part of a series called The Ancient Practices. Other authors for the series include Brian McLaren and Scot McKnight. At this point I had very low expectations for the book.
With all of that, it was better than I supposed. LeBlanc includes stories like that of Randy Alcorn, who can only make minimum wage because he was sued by an abortion clinic, and anything he makes above that would go to fund abortions. A couple of the interviewees even expressed my own position on tithing.
Yet there is one huge elephant in the room. Several of the people LeBlanc cites as examples are either from extremely liberal wings of the church, or out-and-out unbelievers. So...who does the Orthodox Jewish Rabbi tithe to? Am I to believe that God is going to bless money given to a false religion?
Tithing
Talk back to the missionary: What do you think about tithing? Wade into the percentage fray in the comments section.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Posted by Andrew at 4:12 PM
//
Comments: 0 //
TrackBack: 0 //
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //
March 17, 2010
Shall We Gather At the River...To Open a Checking Account
Brazilians are a very creative, inventive people, and this creativity and inventiveness does not apply just to biblical interpretation. From the always informed and oft-linked Rio Gringa comes this video, which appeared on her Portuguese Language blog. (If you are learning Portuguese, this is a good blog to subscribe to).
It would appear that Bradesco (one of the largest Brazilian banks) has inaugurated a floating bank that navigates the Amazon.
I can't think of a better place to go to "float" a loan.
Talk back to the missionary: That's all I've got. Anybody else have any puns inspired by the video? Share your groaners in the comments section.
Posted by Andrew at 8:38 PM
//
Comments: 4 //
TrackBack: 0 //
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //
"That's Why We Have The Holy Spirit..."
One of my students was talking about biblical interpretation on his blog. As an illustration, he posted the following video. My jaw dropped open as I watched.
The video is from a popular Brazilian TV show called "Fantástico". The announcer begins by saying that the next story involves an Evangelical pastor, his neighbor, and his neighbor's wife. Then it cuts to two people from the community who say that it is "really strange" and that "they have never heard of a pastor having this kind of privilege."
The "privilege", as it turns out, is being able to sleep with other people's wives. It seems that the man in question, one Justino, who divides his time between being a pastor and being a stonemason, is convinced that the Bible gives him the right to have more than one woman.
As the video progresses, we learn that a woman in his "congregation" had a dream where she learned that she would have children by Pastor Justino. The minor detail that she is married with four children of her own doesn't seem to matter. At 1:31 in the video she says "God made me do this. I had no other option." Her husband, incredibly, was OK with the whole thing.
What follows, beginning at 1:43, is the Pastor's own justification of their actions. He says that they prayed about it because this was the most difficult thing he had ever done. Then, at 2:04, begins the most amazing part of this video. Even if you do not speak Portuguese, you should watch this.
The pastor justifies his actions by appealing to Hosea 3:1. The Portuguese translation of this verse reads as follows:
Disse-me o Senhor: Vai outra vez, ama uma mulher, amada de seu amigo, e adúltera, como o Senhor ama os filhos de Israel...
A literal translation from the Portuguese would read "The Lord said to me: Go again, love a woman, loved by her friend, and adulterous, as the Lord loves the children of Israel."
However, in the course of the interview, it becomes obvious that "Pastor" Justino is not reading the little accent above the "u" in adúltera. This changes the emphasis of the word, and thus, it's meaning. According to him, the text reads thus: "The Lord said to me: Go again, love a woman, loved by her friend, and commit adultery..."
The golden part of this video is when the reporter points this out from him. Watch from 2:12 as the reporter challenges his "interpretation". Justino passes the Bible to the reporter, the camera focuses on the text (and then on the word adúltera), then the reporter hands the Bible back to Justino. There is a long pause. One needs understand no Portuguese to read the expression of utter disbelief on the face of "Pastor" Justino as he realizes that he has based a terrible, life-altering, sinful decision on his failure to notice an accent above the letter "u".
Desperate to save face, he finally looks up and says weakly, "It was good for you to point this out, because one thing leads to the other, right? This is why we need the direction of the Spirit." And, one might add, a Portuguese dictionary.
I was pleased that the video ends with a Baptist pastor explaining how our friend Justino is completely out to lunch. He comes off as lucid, sane and reasonable. Of course, next to Justino, anybody would come off as lucid, sane and reasonable.
Talk back to the missionary: This is of course an extreme case. What doctrinal aberrations or heresies have you heard that are based on wrong understandings of scripture? Bring your wood, torches and lighter fluid to the comments section.
Posted by Andrew at 6:09 PM
//
Comments: 2 //
TrackBack: 0 //
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //
March 14, 2010
Book Review: American Caesar
What do you do when you have a subordinate who has a list of military decorations as long as your arm? Has led troops into battle with little or no regard for his own life? Has been a faithful if sometimes controversial public servant for over forty years? Is a tactical genius? Has protected Australia from invasion? Has turned a retreating army into an attacking one? Has reconquered the Philippines? Has defeated a ruthless enemy? Has transformed said ruthless enemy from a warlike totalitarian state into a peaceful democratic society? Has held Communism at bay in the face of conflicting and confused foreign policy on the home front?
If you are Harry Truman, you fire him, of course--in the most humiliating way imaginable, designed to bring him the most personal pain possible.
William Manchester's American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 - 1964
brings the epic personality of Douglas MacArthur to life. In his detailed, even-handed style Manchester examines the circumstances that made MacArthur what he was (Union war-hero father, Confederate belle mother, etc.). He then follows the General's unique career.
Endowed with a brilliant mind and enormous (if fragile) ego, MacArthur was a product of the 19th century who saw far into the 20th and 21st. He was at once flamboyant and practical, generous and vindictive. He was a master of the craft of war, and longed to see it abolished. He is regarded as a hero in the nation he rescued (the Philippines) and the nation he defeated (Japan).
All of this Manchester, in his inimitable style, brings to life without attempting to reconcile the stark contrasts. Indeed, the contrasts made MacArthur who he was. The consummate biographer, Manchester details how MacArthur's own pettiness during the Korean conflict was resulted in disaster for him. He also shows how Truman's pettiness (not to mention underhandedness) resulted in disaster for the nation. The policies set for for Korea (the ones MacArthur opposed with every fiber of his being) set in motion the unspeakable horrors, not only of that war, but of Vietnam.
I personally learned much from this volume, and not just of a historical nature. Those who are in positions of leadership--be they pastors, missionaries, or executives--have much to gain by studying the brilliant successes and tragic failures of General Douglas MacArthur. Many men become larger-than-life after history has garnished their image. MacArthur truly lived larger-than-life.
It has been a long time since the United States has produced a gigantic personality like MacArthur, and the world is the poorer for it.
Talk back to the missionary: What lessons have you learned from historical figures? Share the wealth in the comments section.
Posted by Andrew at 4:03 PM
//
Comments: 0 //
TrackBack: 0 //
Share this entry: blinklist // del.icio.us // digg //
Subscribe via