April 27, 2012

Max Moment: Author Interview

Earlier this week we were pleased to a very kind review by book-blogger extraordinaire (and my sister-in-law) Kalyn Comings. Today, she has continued the Missionary Max mania with an interview with the author--yours truly.

I had fun answering her questions, and I hope they give you some insight into the "why" and "wherefore" of The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 25, 2012

In Case You Missed It...

Our most recent ministry newsletter.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Daily (half) Dozen

Irrational Worldviews ...and how to escape them.

Lego Creation of the Day A Beautiful Wreck

In Case You Missed It A great review of The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max

The Cake ...of Sauron

Castle in the Sky In Germany

Feed Your Family ...on $10 Billion a Day

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 24, 2012

Max Moment: Words With Books Review

Words with Books is a blog dedicated to--you guessed it--books. It's creator and author is my sister-in-law, Kalyn Comings. Today she posted a full (and very gracious) review of The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max. Be sure to check it out, and give her some love in the comments section. And, if you have not yet read the book, she is hosting a giveaway!

Are you a blogger? Would you like a free copy of all three parts of The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max? All you have to do agree to write a review (and it doesn't even have to be positive) on your blog, and I will happily send them to you. Like Kalyn, you can even host a giveaway on your blog. If you are interested, send me an e-mail with your blog address, and whether you prefer the Kindle or Nook versions of the book.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 23, 2012

Daily Dozen (update: with broken links fixed)

Brazil's Emergence A rare balanced view.

The Ten Commandments Hillbilly style

Board Game Ministry My bro Joe should read this.

130 Years ...with a harpoon in it's back.

Lego Creation of the Day The Temple of Doom

Baby's Crave Human Touch Or not...

And That Same Little Girl ...now

Best Computer Handbook Ever.

Who Killed Ahithophel? Besides Ahithophel, that is.

A Short History ...of shopping malls.

Important Questions To Ask before you post on Facebook.

Open Minded People turns out, not so open minded.

Have something interesting for the next Daily Dozen? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

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Video: Bahia in 1927

I was going to include this in a Daily Dozen, but it is so cool, I decided to give it a post all it's own. From Deep Brazil comes this video from the state of Bahia in 1927. This is the kind of thing that Brazilians see imperfectly reproduced in historical novelas.

Enjoy!

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Brazilian Musical Interlude: Yamandú Costa plays "Carinhoso"

This one came from Rio Gringa:

If you're interested, here are the (untranslated) lyrics:

Meu coração, não sei por que
Bate feliz quando te vê
E os meus olhos ficam sorrindo
E pelas ruas vão te seguindo
Mas mesmo assim
Foges de mim

Ah se tu soubesses como sou tão carinhosa
E o muito, muito que te quero
E como é sincero o meu amor
Eu sei que tu não fugirias mais de mim

Vem, vem, vem, vem
Vem sentir o calor dos lábios meus a procura dos teus
Vem matar essa paixão que me devora o coração
E só assim então serei feliz
Bem feliz

Ah se tu soubesses como sou tão carinhosa
E o muito, muito que te quero
E como é sincero o meu amor
Eu sei que tu não fugirias mais de mim

Vem, vem, vem, vem
Vem sentir o calor dos lábios meus a procura dos teus
Vem matar essa paixão que me devora o coração
E só assim então serei feliz
Bem feliz

And, as a special bonus, Marisa Monte (one of my favorite female vocalists) singing the same song.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 20, 2012

Daily (half) Dozen

Good News for Me Brazil likes foreigners...kind of.

From the Depths A digital re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic.

The More the Merrier Who is the presidential candidate with a more polygamous background? Hint: It might not be the Mormon guy.

And on a Similar Vein How different are Mormonism and Islam, really?

How Many Ways can you Write 3M? Apparently, lots.

The Dark Lord ...of the cookies.

Have something interesting for the next Daily Dozen? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Tools for the Modern Missionary: Podcasts

One of the greatest challenges in the life of a missionary is keeping yourself fed spiritually. Of course this is true in any ministry context, but the challenge is heightened when you take into consideration language differences and lack of resources.

For this reason, podcasts have become a daily companion for me.

Wikipedia defines a podcast as "a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of files (either audio or video) subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device."

What this means, in plain English, is that you can go into iTunes, under podcasts, search for the name of a particular preacher that you enjoy, and chances are good his messages will be available for free download.

Of course it's not just messages. There are literally thousands of podcasts out there on every imaginable subject.

Because most of my "downtime" is while I am driving, I have a weekly ritual of downloading the latest files from my favorite podcasts, then transferring them to my portable drive and listening to them as I travel to and fro throughout São Luís.

I currently subscribe to four podcasts in three categories:

Edification

Truth for Life with Alistair Begg
Let My People Think with Ravi Zacharias

Leadership

This is Your Life with Michael Hyatt

News/Entertainment

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me NPR's news-related quiz show.

Do you listen to any podcasts? Share your favorites with us in the comments secition.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Camp Update

Today I went to the camp property again, accompanied by two men from our church, Francivaldo and George. Our goal was to clear away the weeds around the remaining undefined boundary.

But first...

...the first "structure" raised on the camp property.

And this came in very handy because...

...it rained. No...it poured. Not that we ran for cover. In fact, the rain was a welcome relief from the relentless sun, and our productivity actually increased. But it did allow us to keep our food and water handy without having to scramble and put everything back in the car.

The boundary in question goes from the road to the top of a hill not quite halfway into our property. In the above picture, I am at the top of the hill, pointing towards the stake at the other end.

Here George and I look towards the road. The swath of cleared land you see stretching in front of us was cut out today.

A hearty meal!

After achieving our main objective, we set to the next task, which was to define the area where the first building will go. We cleared another path through the underbrush. Lord willing the first building--a multi-use structure that will allow us to have overnight activities at the camp--will be constructed to the left of the measuring tape in the picture.

At the end of the day we surveyed our work, with a great deal of satisfaction.

Our goals for our next trip to the camp (probably in two weeks) are 1) to set put up a fence on the land we cleared today, and 2) clear out the area where the multi-use building will go. We are planning a week-long "work retreat" for July, where we hope to make significant progress on the building.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 19, 2012

Daily Dozen

Some Musical Numbers From Brazil's Fantastico program.

...And From the Same Source Brazil's surprisingly large indigenous population.

Amazing Self Discipline Or, extreme dislike of vegetables.

The Good Ol' Days When toys were educational.

A Great Essay on Humor From noted comic Tim Keller.

Motivational Posters For the chronically unmotivated

And Speaking of Motivation Regrets, I've had a few...and they're what keep me going. (Shout out to friend and missionary colleague John Wilburn)

Lego Creation of the Day Ahoy, Matey!

Truth in Tweeting One more reason to keep and bear arms.

How do you say "outrage"...in Canadian?

T4G Together for...Gondor? (included at the insistence of my bro Daniel)

Say Cheese ...and swim away real fast.

Have something interesting for tomorrow's Daily Dozen? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Mikey and Mommy

I was looking for pictures for one of Mikey's assignments, and found this one in the archives. Thought it deserved some more airtime.

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April 18, 2012

Daily Dozen

I'm Just Like Pelé...except I'm terrible at soccer.

What could make a trip to the dentist worse? This.

For those interested in publishing What Rachel Gardner sees on the horizon.

That Seventies Show Featuring...Osama bin Laden?

Lego Creation of the Day For my bro David.

Understanding Philosophy With the help of bright colors and simple shapes.

The Daily Train Streamlined work of art.

For Readers like Me How to get in all that reading you want to do.

Abandon Antiquated Notions! It's time to fight for our rights...

Raising Preachers A good (and timely for us) article on how to raise up men who can preach in your church.

Most Depressing Tweet Ever

Father of the Year Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Have something interesting for tomorrow's Daily Dozen? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2 and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 17, 2012

Musical Interlude: The Hall of the Pringles King

Like the last musical interlude, this one combines two of my favorite things...only this time it's classical music and Pringles. Listen!

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1 and 2 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Daily Dozen

The Brazilian Economy is the subject of an informative new blog called Brazilian Bubble. If you are interested in all things Brazil, you should check it out.

And Speaking of Brazil...the airports here could use some help, especially with the World Cup approaching.

Also From Brazil...armored cars, they aren't just for banks anymore.

Lego Creation of the Day How do you rob a Victorian Bank? With some tricked out, steam-punk machinery, of course. (also, check out Batman on the roof!)

More Than Arranging Chairs The touching, inspiring, challenging story of an evangelist aboard the Titanic.

Entertainment Centers Not a new concept.

Daddy's Home! Sound advice for fathers as they return home from work.

Common Grace A solid reflection on a subject that is often the "third rail" among us fundamentalists.

I'm Their Leader, Which Way did They Go? From the always helpful Michael Hyatt comes this great piece on how to know if you are a leader.

After a Manner of Speaking Interesting idiomatic expressions from around the world. My favorite is the one from China at the end.

The Anatomy of Holiness A very helpful analysis by Kevin DeYoung.

And for my Bro Joe Something to look at while he is laid up with a broken wrist.

Have something interesting for tomorrow's Daily Dozen? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1 and 2 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 16, 2012

Why is That in the Bible?

The following is an adaptation of a post on our Brazilian blog, which in turn is an adaptation of the message preached last night at the Kerigma congregation.

In our congregation here in São Luís I am preaching a series of messages from the book of Gênesis. Yesterday, we arrived at chapter 9, verses 20 through 29.

To summarize, after the flood, Noah gets drunk and ends up naked in his tent. His son Ham gets a kick out of this and tells his brothers about it. They are horrified, and take measures to protect the dignity of their inebriated father.

Upon waking up, Noah pronounces a curse on his son Ham, and his grandson Canaan, as well as a blessing on his other two sons, Shem and Japheth.

And my question, whenever I arrived at this passage, was what in the world is this doing here? This is not one of the well-worn paths in Scripture. Indeed, I don't think I remember a single flannel graph presentation from this text.

But, after studying this passage, I believe there are three keys to opening our understanding of this text.

1. The Author It is important to understand that God used Moses to write this portion of His word.

2. The Context The original intended audience of this text was the nation of Israel, as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land. As we interpret this section, we cannot forget this fact.

3. Canaan Noah's grandson is included in the curse, even though he evidently had little to do with his father's actions. In fact, as the curse progresses, he gets mentioned more than his father. What's up with that?

Taking these three factors into consideration, the purpose of this text becomes clear. As they entered into the Promised Land, the Israelites would encounter the occupants of that land, namely, the Canaanites--descendants of Canaan (see Genesis 10:15-19 and Exodus 33:2). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Moses relates this story with two purposes:

1. A Warning If God's people let down their guard (as Noah did when he hit the bottle a little too heavily), the enemies of God would take advantage of it (has Ham did when he shamed his wasted father). And, in fact, this is what happened. The book of Judges is the sad tale of God's people repeatedly letting down their guard, and God's enemies (the descendants of Canaan) taking advantage of them.

2. An Encouragement When he relates the curse that Noah pronounced on Canaan's head, Moses was communicating to the children of Israel that the destiny of their enemies was already sealed. They would in the end be defeated and reduced to slavery. Therefore, when the Israelite armies went out to do battle with the Canaanites, they could be sure of eventual victory.

And, as I told our congregation last night, for us today remain the same warning and encouragement.

1. A Warning If we let down our guard, our enemy will take advantage of it. In I Peter 5:8 we read that,

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

It falls to us to be alert and vigilant through meditation on the scriptures and prayer.

2. An Encouragement Our enemy, though a roaring lion, is already defeated. On the cross, when Christ cried out "It is finished!" it meant the ultimate defeat of Santan and his hosts. And so, when we do battle, we know that we are dealing with a defeated enemy.

May we be sufficiently warned and encouraged by the story of a tipsy Noah and his disrespectful son!

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1 and 2 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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Camp Update

On Thursday Itacyara and I, along with one of our deacons, went to the camp property to take care of some administrative tasks and prepare for this-week's workday. While we were there, we snapped some pictures.

This picture was taken standing on a high point, looking back towards the road. The location of the road can be determined by the electric wires. Everything on this side of the electric wires is part of our camp property. And this elevated point is not quite halfway between the road and the river.

This picture was taken from a spot a little further from the road, and looking in the opposite direction. In the distance is a field, which is on the other side of the river.

Still further down the trail,towards the river, we make a right-hand turn onto the new property we purchased a few weeks ago. The light-colored stake in front of me marks the far limit of that property.

A left-hand turn takes us down once again towards the river. The river is lined with dense brush, as can be seen in this picture.

Finally, the river. This little pool--part of the expansion we purchased last month--will be what we turn into our swimming area. We plan to begin work on this on Thursday. The other task for Thursday will be to put a fence around the un-fenced portion of the property.

Bonus Picture

A few kilometers from our camp property is this establishment, with the unlikely name of "The God is Father Bar".

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1 and 2 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 9, 2012

And Finally...

This announcement was supposed to go live a week ago, but events took over, and I am just getting to it now.

So...here it is:

The third and final installment of "The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max" is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I know many of you have eagerly awaited this moment, and I am pleased to announce that it is finally here.

And this is by far not the end of Missionary Max. Book Two is about half finished, and there will be at least two after that, so stay tuned!

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max, Parts 1, 2, and 3 are now available for Kindle and Nook!

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April 7, 2012

Look to Jesus!

The following is an excerpt from our most recent prayer letter:

I wish I could transmit to you the beautiful scene I witnessed at the cemetery on Wednesday. After the short devotional the casket containing Pastor Francisco's mortal remains was wheeled out of the little chapel and towards the grave site. The crowd (and it was a large crowd--two buses and about twenty cars accompanied the hearse from the church to the cemetery) followed close behind...singing. First they sang "It is Well With My Soul", then an old Brazilian hymn imploring sinners to trust in Christ. Finally, as they approached the open grave, they broke out into a chorus that is very popular in churches here which echoes, almost verbatim, the words of Romans 8: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

After a few short words from the pastor's brother, the casket was lowered into the ground, and the cemetery workers began to pile the dirt on top. (Unlike Americans, Brazilians stick around for this part.) Suddenly Pastor Francisco's aged mother, Dona Terezinha, spoke up through her tears, in a voice so loud and clear all could hear it:

"People, look to Jesus!" she exclaimed. "Look to Jesus! Look to Jesus!"

The next months are apt to be some of the most challenging of our ministry...but with God's help, and with Dona Terezinha's words echoing in our ears, we will look to Jesus.

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April 3, 2012

Farewell, Friend

Pastor Francisco Bezerra and family

This was not the post I had planned on writing today, and even now, as my fingers move, I can scarcely believe what I am seeing appear on the screen.

As I was getting ready to teach an English class last night, the phone rang. It was a lady from our church, imploring me to get over to Pastor Francisco's house, as he had been shot. "It doesn't look good" she said.

Pastor Francisco has been my friend since 1999, when I first traveled to Sao Luis. In 2000 he performed our wedding. And long before that, he was Itacyara's pastor, discipling her as a new convert. Ever since we met, he has prayed and urged us to come to choose Maranhao as our field of ministry. And when we finally arrived here in 2011, he and I began a fruitful ministry partnership. He welcomed us into the congregation that they were starting, and together we continued the task of bringing the church to where it could be organized. At the beginning of last year he told me about a piece of property near the city of Morros. We went and visited it, purchased it, and since then he has been the greatest cheer leader for our camp project.

As soon as I got off the phone I grabbed Mikey (who was studying while I taught) and together we took off full-speed in the direction of Pastor Francisco's house. It is about a twenty-minute drive from where I was teaching. On the way, I got another phone call, this one bringing home my worst fears--Pastor Francisco was dead. As I weaved in and out of rush-hour traffic in São Luís, my heart was breaking. My friend, my mentor, my co-laborer...gone.

In human terms, it was a random event. Stupid, really. Pastor and his family were outside their house. He was working on his car--something he was always doing. His wife and daughter were on the front steps, together with our youngest son Nathanael who was visiting his "Brazilian grandma and grandpa". Suddenly, shots rang out, together with cries of "ladrão!" (thief), and "tiros!" (shots).

A short distance from their house is a warehouse where a local chain of department stores keeps merchandise. Two young hoodlums tried to rob it, and the security guards ran them off. The two split up, and one of them, armed and shooting wildly, ran up Pastor Francisco's street.

When they heard the shots and the yells, the pastor's wife and daughter scooped up Nathanael and rushed inside. Once in the door, the pastor's wife looked back to see if Francisco was following her. She heard him say "Ai, meu Deus!" (Oh, my God), and turning, saw him sprawled out on the pavement.

He was dead before he got to the hospital.

Several people, including Pastor Francisco's younger son gave chase to the bandido, but he managed to elude them and is apparently still at large.

Pastor Francisco is an irreplaceable loss for São Luís, for our church, and he leaves a big, gaping hole in our personal lives. He also leaves a wife and three grown children. His legacy became apparent last night and into the early hours of the morning as people flooded into the house to pay respects. People were literally arguing over who would have the privilege of paying the funeral expenses. Without exaggeration, Pastor Francisco has touched thousands of people with his simplicity, sincerity, generosity, and genuine love for Jesus and for people.

And it goes to show what a terrible, mixed-up world we live in that my friend is the one in a casket at the front of the church (a church he built with his own hands), while the idiot that killed him is still roaming the streets. If I didn't believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, I would be losing it right about now.

At this point I am at a loss for what else to write, except to ask you to pray. Our ministry changed radically yesterday afternoon, and the next few weeks are going to be a long and challenging.

Farewell, good friend. You are basking in the presence of Jesus, but we are going to miss you terribly here.

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