May 31, 2008

God Chooses Losers (and that's a good thing for me)

The other day I was having a conversation with an area pastor, in which he lightheartedly disparaged my choice of Brazilian soccer teams. To be honest, I really don't follow the Brazilian leagues that much, but everybody has to have a team, so I picked Palmeiras.

It just so happens that the Palmeiras team is currently on the top of the heap. They won one of the many national championships, and are now rated as "best in Brazil". I mentioned that to my pastor friend, and he allowed as how that was true, but that one had to go by a team's record. And the recent history of the Palmeiras record is not that great. In fact, up until this most recent season, they could have easily been described by the word "losers".

I explained to my friend that this was simply following a pattern in my choice of teams to cheer for. For example, I was a Bills fan during all four Super Bowl attempts. When I moved to Florida, I rooted for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers way before their (one and only) championship win. And, believe it or not, there has always been a soft spot in my heart for the New Orleans Saints.

Let's face it, I like losers. And the reason I like them is because when the losers win, the glory is greater. My celebration when the Bucs won the Big One was intensified because of their history of losing. Someday when the Bills actually win the Superbowl, you can bet the city of Buffalo will be shut down for a week of partying, made greater by what the team and fans have been through during all these years of losing. The Saints...well...one can dream.

Hollywood movies reflect our desire to see the underdog triumph. "Do You Believe in Miracles", "Remember the Titans", "The Replacements"--all glory in the victory of losers.

As I bantered back and forth with my friend, it dawned on me that this is precisely why God chose me. And you. He chooses losers.

I Corinthians 1:27-28 sums it up nicely:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and dispised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are...

So there you have it. God chose a bunch of despicable, weakling morons (that is the actual Greek word) for his "team".

This passage always brings to mind the painful images of my elementary years when two kids would be arbitrarily chosen to "pick teams" for kickball. All the "good players" would be chosen first, and then the second-tier players, until it got down to the last guy...which was usually yours truly. Then would begin the humiliating fight over "who has to take Andrew". (Seriously, who was the genius who thought "picking teams" was a good idea?)

Now, imagine with me for a moment that one day onto our playground were to walk The World's Best Kickball Player(tm). Of course he would be one of the "team captains". Then imagine that he were to start by choosing the biggest loser (that would be me) and then moving on up the loser scale, until he had a team made up completely of losers.

Of course, at this point people would wonder if he were actually The World's Best Kickball Player(tm). Some--if not most--would start to make fun of him. "Look at that team full of losers!" they would say.

But then The World's Best Kickball Player(tm) would give us all his techniques, show us all of his secrets. Not only that, but of course he would be responsible for all the key plays and assists in the game. And before you knew it, the Loser's Team would have won...something like 50 to 0.

There would be a stunned silence, followed by a bunch of losers in wild celebration. Of course we would recognize that our victory would have been impossible without The World's Best Kickball Player(tm), and we would grab him and parade him around the playground on our shoulders.

And most certainly The World's Best Kickball Player(tm) would get far more enjoyment and pleasure from having made a bunch of losers win than if he had picked the most talented players in the school.

I am convinced that this is EXACTLY why God chose me. Check out what verses 29 through 31 of the same chapter have to say:

...so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Did you catch that? Being a loser qualifies us for being chosen by God, which qualifies us for victory, which qualifies us for bragging rights...in the Lord!

Sometimes I like to imagine what the first few moments will be like when the Church finds itself in the presence of it's King. In my mind, it is beginning to look less like a church service and more like the end of a Super Bowl where the underdog team has won. The place will be going wild. The loser-turned-winner players (us) will be jumping around, hugging each other, shouting, crying and doing little victory dances. Then all eyes will turn to the One who is at once our Manager, Coach, and MVP (how's that for an analogy of the Trinity?) and the "stadium" will be rocked by wave upon wave of deafening cheers.

So go ahead...embrace it...you're a loser. I'm a loser. And God picks losers so His glory will be even greater.

Posted by Andrew at 5:54 PM // Comments: 6 //
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May 30, 2008

Book Review: The Vanishing Conscience

At long last I am finding time to do a book review. I actually have a couple recently read books in the "queue", and am reading a third. So perhaps reviews will be a little more frequent around here. Or not.

Anyhoo...a while ago I finished reading John MacArthur's outstanding work The Vanishing Conscience.

This book is about sin. More specifically, it is about how our culture (and how we as individuals) try to remove the effects of sin (namely guild) without dealing with the problem.

In the first chapter, entitled "Whatever Happened to Sin", the author asks the following pointed question:

When was the last time you heard an on-the-air counselor tell someone suffering from conscience pangs, "Your guilt is valid; you are sinful and must seek full repentance before God"?

What follows is a withering diagnosis of the sin problem, and a faithful pointing to it's cure.

The Vanishing Conscience is convicting, convincing, and correcting.

To buy this or other great books, visit our Amazon bookstore.

Posted by Andrew at 12:58 PM
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Uncontacted Tribes in Brazil

clipped from top5news.wordpress.com An Indian tribe that has had no formal contact with Western civilization has been located in a remote Amazon region, federal authorities said Friday. In this image made available Thursday May 29, 2008, from Survival International, showing ‘uncontacted Indians’ of the Envira, who have never before had any contact with the outside world, photographed during an overflight in May 2008, as they react to the overflight at their camp in the Terra Indigena Kampa e Isolados do Envira, Acre state, Brazil, close to the border with Peru.

Posted by Andrew at 12:08 PM // Comments: 4 //
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May 28, 2008

US RDA of Cuteness

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Camp Workday Report

Aaaaaand....we're back.

Actually, been back for a few days...just with no time to blog. What follows are some pictures from the workday we had at the Iguatu camp.

This is yours truly shoveling sand into the truck. Notice the FORM!

This is the cabin known as "Central" before we started work. Notice the bare-brick walls and floor. The tiles on the roof are not easily seen, but were in dire need of repair.

The other project we tackled this week was an open-air shower on the girls side of the camp. Our goal was to build a "modesty wall" around it, and put in a cement floor.

My first job was to make sure we had enough food and tools for the workers. This picture shows me returning from town with supplies--edible and otherwise.

One of our area pastors, Clederson, was there to lend a hand. Here he is carrying bricks to the construction site.

Work at the cabin gets underway.

The wall goes up.

One of our workers wanted to prove he was a "macho man"--as if spending all day in the sun on top of a tile roof weren't enough. And yes, that is me getting ready to hand him a stack of tiles.

Here is a picture of the cabin as it looks now. The only thing left to do is to put a sidewalk in front of it. The wall at the shower was constructed on three sides. There is another group of men coming to build the other side of it in the next couple of weeks.

Besides the projects that were begun, the big victory this week was seeing the churches pull together to support a project like this--both financially and in manpower. All told, the national churches raised close to $1,000.00 for the project.

We have already set aside a date for next year to do the same thing.

Posted by Andrew at 5:37 PM
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May 21, 2008

Challies Book Contest

I am getting ready to go to camp, where I will be incommunicado for most of the remaining week. We have a retreat that begins this evening and goes through Thursday, and then work days on Friday and Saturday.

While I am gone, however, you have another chance to help the missionary win some books (and maybe win some for yourself)! That's correct, it is time for this month's giveaway drawing over at challies.com.

As you may be able to tell from the banner above, the pot has been sweetened this month with a kewl t-shirt. In order to register for this giveaway, just click on one of the banners. In doing so, you not only enter yourself, you also increase my chances of winning.

Last month I did not win...but I did get at lest three references. A big "thank you" to all who participated!

Posted by Andrew at 10:36 AM // Comments: 1 //
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May 18, 2008

Joy in the Presence of Angels

Tonight God added two souls to His kingdom during the worship service at Peace Baptist Church. This is awesome on many different levels.

First, God has been working through our young people to awaken a sense of urgency in prayer. For the last few weeks we have challenged each other to spend ten minutes a day praying for God to be glorified through that week's service. And for the past few weeks someone has come to Christ in each service.

Second, as I write this I am talking to my brother David, who is driving truck somewhere near the Canadian border. When he saw the "status update" on my Facebook he im-ed me all excited and let me know that he had prayed today--while driving--that God would change lives during our service.

God changed at least two.

One of our young people came up to me after the service and asked if I noticed that our pastor was preaching better. My answer was that I think he has always preached very well, but that the Spirit of God has moved His people to pray, and then brought glory to Himself by answering those prayers.

By the way, I had always assumed that Luke 15:10, from whence cometh the title of this post, was about the angels rejoicing. However the phrase "in the presence of angels" would seem to indicate that the angels are spectators to a Divine celebration. That must be quite a thing to see.

Posted by Andrew at 11:20 PM
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May 17, 2008

In Brazil, It's Sponsored by the Government

Christians in the US are rightly concerned with this-week's ruling allowing "gay marriage" (that whole concept is somewhat of an oxymoron, if you ask me). However, it is quite a step from the government allowing marriage between sodomites and openly sponsoring and promoting the sodomite lifestyle.

Below is a translated portion of the linked article:

The Minister of Culture launched an offensive in order to promote manifestations against homophobia and in favor of the valuing of the identy of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites, and transsexuals.

Understand that this is not a "live and let live" incentive. The attitude here is "you will accept this or else". In case there was any doubt about that, the following line makes it crystal clear.

The fist is the Concourse of Support for GLBT Pride Parades. This initiative is aimed at cities where the movement does not yet exist, and will complete a project for financing in every state and in the federal district.

It is clear that the "gay rights" movement is much more advanced here than in the US. Therefore, those who have bought the line that practitioners of sodomy "just want the same rights as everybody else" should take a lesson from this. They want much more than that. Brazilian churches narrowly escaped being required by the government to accept employees who were openly practicing the sodomite lifestyle. I am not sure they will escape next time around.

A couple observations:

1. As Abraham Piper pointed out in a recent post on his blog, we must not become so obsessed with the pro-sodomy movement that we ignore sins that are much more prevalent even in Christian churches, or the sins in our own lives. These are equally abhorrent to the God we serve, and must be fought at every turn. We must be just as ruthless at rooting out sin in our own lives as we are in denouncing sin in the world.

2. I am becoming more and more of the opinion that when persecution comes, it will come from the direction of the pro-sodomy movement. They are doing a pretty good job of casting us as intolerant, and it is easy for people to be intolerant of those who are intolerant. As Tom Lehrer so aptly observed in one of his parodies, "I know there are people who do not love their brother, and I HATE people like that." We as Christians need to be consistent in calling sin what God calls sin, and we need to be ready for the consequences.

Posted by Andrew at 5:52 PM
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May 16, 2008

Pro-Life Victory in Brazil

clipped from www.lifesitenews.com In a stunning victory for the pro-life movement in Latin America, the Social Security and Family Committee of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (the lower legislative house) unanimously rejected an abortion decriminalization law that pro-abortion forces have fought for since 1991. The committee members embraced each other in tears while pro-abortion forces in the audience yelled epithets at them and against the Catholic Church, which this year initiated an intense campaign to protect the right to life.

Posted by Andrew at 1:24 PM // Comments: 1 //
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Dastardly Doings in South America

Hopefully, the blogs will force this one into the national media. Via Michelle Malkin's blog:

Many documents retrieved from the rebel computers discuss Venezuelan efforts to help the FARC obtain weapons, including rockets.

In March 2007, a rebel commander known as Timochenko wrote that “intelligence officials from our neighboring navy” say it’s very difficult to obtain “rockets,” but that “they’re disposed to help us get all the parts to build them.”

In a January 2007 note, Ivan Marquez, the rebel’s main go-between with the Chavez government, mentions “the possibility of taking advantage of Venezuela’s purchase of arms from Russia to include some containers destined for the FARC.”

Another message from Marquez, dated Aug. 20, 2006, describes a visit to an anti-aircraft missile factory in China by a Venezuelan official who is said to have returned with a catalog for the FARC.

This was accompanied by a telling headline from today's Globo:

Brazil may have to condemn Chavez for his connection to FARC

This would be especially embarrassing after Brazilian president Lula made a big show of calling Chavez "the great peacemaker" a few weeks ago.

If the Brazilian government could see beyond their rose-colored spectacles just long enough to notice how Chavez is undermining not only Brazil but the entire region, they could very well throw their weight behind Uribe and end the Chavez threat for good.

Chances of that happening? Well, as the article beneath the above headline shows, they are reluctant to even term FARC a terrorist group.

Posted by Andrew at 12:31 PM
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May 15, 2008

Time -Traveling Missionaries and Other Absurdities

I have been able to separate all of the books that I will find useful from the library we inherited from Pete Brooks this week. There are many great works that will most certainly be a treasure of edification for me for years to come. There were, however, some that were "gems" in a completely different way.

The cover of this book on missions grabbed my attention:

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If you haven't noticed yet, take a closer look.

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That's correct, apparently these modern missionaries are busily engaged in witnessing to Mr. and Mrs. Pharaoh. Won't Moses be glad.

The next book should be a lesson to all of us as we work out our eschatology from the Scriptures:

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DON'T INTERPRET PROPHECY IN THE LIGHT OF CURRENT EVENTS!!! Wonder what insights this little book could contain? Here is an example:

Literally, the phrase "kings of the east" should be rendered, "the kings who are from the rising of the sun." This must mean Japan--the nation internationally known as "the Land of the Rising Sun".

Now, that book was published in 1943. Here is one published by the same author in 1944.

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That's right, Japan is no longer a threat...now it is Communist Russia.

So here's the question: How many of our own interpretations of prophetic texts (I am speaking to my fellow pre-millenial dispensationalists out there) are based on current events?

I'm just askin'...

Posted by Andrew at 9:33 PM // Comments: 2 //
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May 14, 2008

Logos

I have been messing around with Photoshop, working on a couple logos that have to do with our puppet ministry.

This first one is supposed to be the main logo. I am not satisfied at all with the coloring.

This one is for our seminary canteen, which exists to raise funds for the puppet team. I actually spent far less time on this one, and am much happier with the result.

Posted by Andrew at 11:58 PM
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Travel Report...Or "The Bookmobile"

For some time retired missionary Pete Brooks has been offering to give me a good portion of his library. All that has been lacking is time for me to go and pick it up. This last weekend afforded just such a chance.

Our trip to the city of Martins was not without event. As we were approaching the city on Saturday we were suddenly confronted by a washed-out bridge. Not knowing another way around, we ended up spending the night at a hotel in a little town called Pau dos Ferros (literally, "The Branding Tree").

The next day we plotted an alternate rout and started off. The city of Martins sits atop a large plateau. As we made our way up the winding road, we were confronted with scenes like this...

...and this.

The highlight of our time there was getting to hear Pete talk about his years of experience as a missionary in this region. I wish I could have spent a whole week there.

This is the Comings family (minus Mikey who was taking the picture) with our host.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and it was time to go. We loaded up the truck with books...

...and I do mean "loaded"!

Our trip back was uneventful, but God blessed us with a beautiful demonstration of his power and mercy:

Posted by Andrew at 11:45 PM
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What do You Get...

...when you take a picture of the world's most beautiful woman and the world's cutest baby?

This.

Posted by Andrew at 11:07 AM
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May 10, 2008

Ok...I Had to Come Back and Post One More Thing...

Our second puppet episode for the year played on TV today, so now I can air it online.

In this episode Júnior and Manú take on "The Golden Compass" and the idea of atheism as a whole. I'm sure Richard Dawkins would find the idea of puppets affirming the existence of God to be laughable, but who asked him?

At the end of this episode our "talking heads" recommend a great film to watch this weekend: "Facing the Giants".

I still have a plan to put English subtitles on these, but it is at the bottom of a very long to-do list.

Enjoy!

Posted by Andrew at 10:44 AM
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Ok...I Had to Come Back and Post One More Thing...

Our second puppet episode for the year played on TV today, so now I can air it online.

In this episode Júnior and Manú take on "The Golden Compass" and the idea of atheism as a whole. I'm sure Richard Dawkins would find the idea of puppets affirming the existence of God to be laughable, but who asked him?

At the end of this episode our "talking heads" recommend a great film to watch this weekend: "Facing the Giants".

Posted by Andrew at 10:44 AM
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Weekend Getaway

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for a city about six hours away from here, where we will be spending the Mother's Day weekend with a missionary friend. Computers and cell phones are not invited!

Posted by Andrew at 12:50 AM
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May 8, 2008

Taping Session Photos

I promised these a while ago...so here they are--pictures from our latest taping session. I finished editing the footage from this session today, so it should go on the air (and subsequently on YouTube) on Saturday.

For the first time we hooked up the computer to the process so I could get a head start on the editing process. For some reason I was unable to capture the video as it was being processed, but having the computer there still helped a lot.

Meet Nilton. He is our volunteer sound man. If you watch one of our old videos, and then the one that we posted on Saturday, you will notice the difference he has made.

After the filming, I have to capture the raw footage for later editing.

Tiring of watching raw footage being captured, some of the cast members found the digital camera and started taking pictures.

By far the prettiest picture taken all evening.

Posted by Andrew at 12:57 PM // Comments: 2 //
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May 7, 2008

The Double Whammy

Yesterday I went to fill up the tank of our truck, and almost had a heart attack. The price of fuel has gone up eight percent since last week. Together with the fact that the dollar has taken yet another drubbing, this amounts to a financial "double whammy" for us and all missionaries serving here in Brazil.

I have already written a couple posts about the situation of the dollar as it relates to missionaries. Today the blog Wiser Time just had a great post on the subject (h/t Challies). The author offers the following suggestions:

Pray (regularly!) for the dollar to regain its strength. This is affecting lots of missionaries all over the world, and they’d rather be focusing on ministry than trying to build their support back up.

If you have missionaries you regularly support, consider trying to raise your monthly pledge to help with their added costs. Where could you trim from your budget to help them out? Think of it as a move of wartime efficiency to get the troops in the field what they need.

If you’re not regularly supporting any missionaries, this would be a great time to start, as nearly all of them are feeling the crunch.

I am definitely on board with all his suggestions...and would add one of my own: Pray that your missionaries would see and communicate the sovereignty of God during these "skinny cow" times.

Posted by Andrew at 12:08 PM
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May 6, 2008

From the Treasury: Running Through a Troop

The schedule is hectic, the "to do" list is full unto overflowing, but let us take just a moment to reflect with Charles Spurgeon as he offers a meditation on Psalm 18:29 "For by thee I have run thorugh a troop; and by my God have a leaped over a wall."

Whether we meet the foe in the open field or leap upon them while they lurk behind the battlements of a city, we shall by God's grace defeat them in either case; if they hem us in with living legions, or environ us with stone walls, we shall with equal certainty obtain our liberty. Such feats we have already performed, hewing our way at a run through hosts of difficulties, and scaling impossibilities at a leap. God's warriors may expect to have a taste of every form of fighting, and much by the power of faith determine to quit themselves like men; but it behoves them to be very careful to lay all their laurels at Jehovah's feet, each on of them saying "by my God" have I wrought this valiant deed. Our spolia optima, the trophies of our conflicts, we hereby dedicate to teh God of Battles, and ascribe to him all glory and strength.

First, I love Spurgeon's imagery of us as warriors "hewing our way at a run" through the enemy. It conjures up scenes from Lord of the Rings or 300--except Spurgeon had never seen those. How easy it is for us in our western comfort to lose our grasp of the truth that we are indeed engaged in a fierce battle. The fact that the outcome of the battle is secure does not diminish in the least its fierceness.

But that is not the great preacher's main point. He (as well as the psalmist) is concerned with what we do after the victory has been won. Here the temptation is to look back with satisfaction on the battlefield--strewn with the bodies of our enemies--and take satisfaction in the victory. In doing this, we seal our defeat.

No matter how hard we have fought, no matter how much of our own blood we have shed, the victory is not ours. The victory belongs to Christ, who shed his blood on our behalf, and in doing so won the victory for us for all time. To him be all the glory and praise forever!

Posted by Andrew at 10:44 AM
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May 4, 2008

At Long Last!!!

I finally managed to get our video uploaded. The picture quality is not as I would have liked, but here it is:

In this video Manú (the girl) and Júnior (the puppet) discuss the recent discovery of a missing link in Rio de Janeiro. They conclude that the Bible is the authority when it comes to origins.

As you can see, this was our first time using the green screen. The projects I am working on now are looking much better. We also had some camera issues (at one point it looks like we are filming onboard a ship during high tide), and these are being resolved as well. If I get a spare hour somewhere I will put some captions on this so those of you who don't speak Portuguese can understand what is going on.

Now I am going to bed.

Posted by Andrew at 12:11 AM // Comments: 2 //
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May 3, 2008

What I Have Been Seeing All Day

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Posted by Andrew at 7:20 PM // Comments: 2 //
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Ok...

I have some great content to post to this blog--honestly I do--but circumstances beyond my control are preventing me from doing so. As soon as this freakishly slow connection speeds up, I will be posting pictures from our latest taping session, as well as (fanfare please) the first of our new puppet recordings.

If you need something to do while you wait, you can always click the banner below to win some free books (and/or help me win!).

Posted by Andrew at 5:29 PM
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