We’ve been having a blast here! We had a great day of ministry yesterday and today started off with a bang as we had the privilege of worshiping this morning at Templo Batista Biblica here in Jacarei. Here’s a few shots of yesterday and today.

Sam Cirrincione sharing his testimony with translator Patrick McClure.

Our group singing in Portuguese and English at the favela (slums).

Our team doing the drama called “The Woman”, which is about finding hope and peace in Christ in the midst of a chaotic world.

This drama is called “King of Hearts”, which is about how we all hide beyond masks but Christ helps us realize who we can be in and through a relationship with Him.

I had the great honor of preaching at TBB, the first church I worshiped with in Brazil in 1998.

Our CPC team with some of the staff and members of TBB hanging out after church.

All in all, it has been an incredibly fruitful trip thus far! God has multiplied blessings here. The best highlight so far: our team leading 9 people to Christ last night… IN PORTUGUESE! It was awesome.

Keep praying for us. Hopefully the next update will be by Tuesday.

First of all, the rest of the team is on the way!!! We can’t wait to see them. We’ve done our best to help Russ and Diane Dean prepare for this week. Here is a shot of our team in the airport:

Today was pretty cool here in Brazil. Why? COPO DO MUNDO!!! For those of you who have no idea what that means, we’re talking about what Brazilians live and breathe — the World Cup! Things were crazy here: horns, fireworks, chants and cheers could be heard for miles. It was great to experience a game with the Brazilians. Here is a picture of Erin and April with some of the folks from IBABI (one of the churches we are ministering with this week) cheering on Brazil during the game against Portugal:

We ran some other errands today too. Preparations for food baskets for the impoverished neighborhoods are quite extensive, as well as preparing for 24 Americans who are staying for a week! Also, Diane and Russ took some extra time discussing missions and ministry with the early team. It was absolutely fantastic and very helpful to have their input. All in all it was a good day.

Blessings!

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There is some stuff I just cannot comprehend. Try as I may to get it…it doesn’t make any logical or Scriptural sense. Here is a partial of things I do not understand.

1. Folks that show up to church only a few times a year but expect the pastor to drop everything to provide them with his undivided attention.
2. People that put nothing in the offering plate but still have the stones to expect that their opinions on the church should count.
3. Parents who ground their children from church or the youth group…the very things that could help them with their behavior, future and afterlife.
4. People that expect the pastor to tolerate their political views…but leave the church because of his.
5. The occasional volunteer that expects the church to throw a parade in their honor just because they finally did what the Bible commanded.
6. People that have basked in the grace of God…but fail to give grace to anyone else.
7. Pastors that leave one church for another…for better pay.
8. The need for church growth plans, programs, books, conference, seminars and resource kits…when we already have the Bible
9. Women that tolerate their husbands having multiple affairs…”for the sake of the kids”.
10. Pastors that would rather be political pundits or civil rights leaders…instead of just preaching the life-saving message of the Word of God.
11. People that have one spiritual standard for their pastor…and another for themselves.
12. Folks that think the word ‘disciple’ is a noun…and not a verb.
13. People that make comments about needing to go “deeper” in God’s Word…as if there is a Scripture in the Bible that isn’t deep.
14. Pastors that think accountability means never asking them the tough questions or taking the hard line when it comes to their failure to follow Scripture.
15. Men that think being the head of the household has something to do with the amount of money they are bringing in or the title they acquire at work.”
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Again – I don’t necessarily sign off on all of these. But they made me evaluate some things. What about you?

What resonated with your spirit? What did you disagree with? Did this make you think?

I know it’s a few days late, but Happy New Year to all of you! I pray that it is a fruitful year for you – spiritually, emotionally, athletically, hypothetically, salvifically, and superfluously. Here is a great passage of scripture that I’ve been meditating on, and it is fitting for all of us as we start the year off. It’s the first chapter of the Psalms, and it should be the first chapter of our lives in 2010:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

May Christ richly dwell in you in 2010… God bless.

Jimmy told his story on the main stage at Catalyst. I sat there and listened to the details of how he lost his family members one by one, many to starvation. His mother found out about Compassion, and eventually, Jimmy was sponsored by a man from Canada. He pulled out a letter from the man and read it to the crowd. He talked about how that letter pointed to Christ and that eventually it was one of the components God used to draw him to salvation. Jimmy was grateful to that man. His simple monthly gift changed Jimmy’s life forever.

Up until this point, Jimmy never met his sponsor. The guys at Catalyst changed all that… The video below is the surprise moment that emotionally and spiritually ROCKED everyone in the auditorium. All of the CPC staff guys were crying like babies – me included.

Why was it so emotional and powerful? Because it pointed to Jesus. It was a picture of heaven. So many people have gone before us and paved the way for our spiritual blessings, and we may never meet them on this side of glory.

This moment was a reminder to me that “I stand on the shoulders of giants”. I am extremely grateful for those giants – both the living and the dead. They’ve made me the man I am today. They were faithful to the gospel and they challenge me to do the same.

Watch the video. You’ll see Jimmy grasp the giant’s shoulders he’s been standing on for years. (Jimmy starts his story at around 3 1/2 minutes into the video)

This year’s Pastor’s Conference had some fresh, new faces that represented the up-and-coming generation of SBC pastors. While I am a Southern Baptist – both in theology and in mission – I have had my concerns with the future of our denomination. But at this year’s annual meeting it became clear to me that God is not sleeping, and He is definitely raising up a new generation of passionate preachers, teachers, and missionaries.

David Platt, the senior pastor at The Church at Brook Hills is one of the leaders of this younger generation of gifted SBC pastors. He is only 30 years old, but he is wise beyond his years and commands attention – even from those twice his age. He was privileged to preach at one of the main sessions at the conference, and he left a profound impact on those in attendance.

What I appreciate about David Platt is his combination of confidence and humility in his preaching. He is convinced of the reliability of the text and not his ability as an orator. Sadly, the opposite is true with many pastors, but that is a different discussion for a different day. Back to the message he preached at the conference…

With the foundation of Hebrews 13:11, he began with a question that struck at the core of every pastor in the room: “Are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion?” He then followed with a great explanation of the text and a fantastic charge on missions and evangelism.

I pray that, if you choose to watch this, you will ask that of yourselves as well.

UPDATE 07.10.09
I was requested by SBC Tapes to remove the video of David Platt’s PC sermon. Apparently, they have the copyright privileges to all of the videos from the SBC Annual Meeting. As soon as they have the copyrighted version finished and up on the web, I’ll add a link to the page. It’s worth watching.

A recent post by the guys at the Pyromaniacs blog really sparked some thought in my mind about this very issue. While our folks come and participate in worship, they would rather be listening to the pastors they read and podcast. The popular guys. I’m sure you can fill in the names. The Pyro guys make a few good points in the post. Some controversial, mostly helpful.

On the issue of our people really having other pastors:

Now, some professed Christians sin outright, by never physically attending an actual, in-person church. We’ve talked about that, and they aren’t our focus.

But others do attend a church — physically. They come in, they sit down. They sing, they may give financially. They may look at you, Pastor, as you preach.

But you know their heart belongs to another.

Their real pastor isn’t you. It’s Dave Hunt. Or it’s John Piper. Or it’s John MacArthur, or Ligon Duncan, or Mark Dever, or David Cloud, or Joel Osteen. Or it’s Charles Spurgeon, or D. M. Lloyd-Jones, or J. C. Ryle. Or Calvin, or Luther, or Bahnsen, or de Mar, or R. B. Thieme, or J. Vernon McGee.

And they’re such better pastors than you are! You know they are!

Another good tidbit from the post was concerning the lack of commitment we really have to paper pastors. They likened it to pornography. We are in control of the relationship. We have a commitment we can leave at any time.

He came to see that he had no actual relationship with these women whatever. If (he named a female celebrity) had sat down next to him in an airplane, she wouldn’t know him from Adam. Whatever may have happened in his sinful fantasies, the two of them had no relationship in the real world….

And they’re right, in a way. They can’t compete with these women. Because these women don’t exist in the real world! They may not even look like their pictures! Thanks to computer wizardry, the pictures we see may actually bear only the slightest resemblance to the actual women……

And these paper pastors maintain the perfect distance. If you don’t want to hear something, they don’t press it — or you can instantly shut them up, snap! They never ask you to do something uncomfortable and follow up on you. They never persistently probe an area of sin, in you, in person, eyeball to eyeball… nor will they. Church discipline will not be a threat with them. Ever.

Because they don’t know you from Adam.

This blog post really intrigued me. Why? Because during my time at Southern Seminary, many of the guys I went to school with seemed to elevate certain pastors above Christ, all in the name of Christ. They idolized these men. They worshiped these pastors.

As a college pastor, I’ve seen some of our own students struggle with this issue (as have other church members for that matter). Some have more of a desire to discuss a podcasted sermon from one of the “paper pastors” than to wrestle with and apply our own pastor’s sermon.

Let me be clear: I love a good read. I love great sermons and resources, and I love the ministry of many of these paper pastors. I have benefitted greatly from them. I even cite them on this blog as well as recommend them to others often! They ARE great men of God.

But perspective is also very helpful.

While I find these pastors resourceful and appreciate their ministry, I wish that people would spend more time uplifting and encouraging their ACTUAL pastors rather than fashioning golden calfs.

They might find that they appreciate their pastor more than ever before. Even if their pastors aren’t quite as perfect in their eyes as McManus, Begg, Sproul, Stanley, Piper, or Driscoll.

Maybe I just needed to have a heart-to-heart with some of my seminary friends or college students that have seemed to struggle with this. I guess it’s never too late:

So, because it’s awkward for your pastor to say it to you — and because I’ve no church who’d suspect I’m talking to them, at the moment — I’ll just tell you plain:

Brother, sister: John Piper isn’t your pastor. John MacArthur knows nothing about you. Dave Hunt never got on his knees and prayed for you. Lloyd-Jones won’t come to your house when you’re recovering from surgery, or one of your children shatters your heart, or your marriage is shaking and rocking and barely hanging on. Charles Spurgeon won’t weep with you as you weep.

Read the original post at the Pyromaniacs blog here.

HT: Sergio Mendoza

This message hit on gender roles, but more than that, it really targeted the core issues that most men struggle with. Mark takes the truth of the Bible and expounds on what a real man should look like.

I’m really glad he wasn’t shy to preach on this – especially in his context and the size of his church. It isn’t a popular perspective. This is a huge issue in the world today, and we’ve really messed up God’s design for masculinity and marriage. Take a few minutes and check it out…

Watch the message here.

Hat tip: The Resurgence.