Yesterday I had a fight with my sister.
We contracted a lawyer to a very simple task: put me in charge of all responsibilities of my mother with Alzheimer, inclusive, financial responsibilities. Unfortunately, she is very irresponsible. I had to generate documents based on the financial information that I provided to the lawyer because she seemed incompetent or lazy to read it. It made furious because I was paying to someone just because, by law, I need to contract a lawyer. After that, she lost a deadline and she was blaming me. It made me more furious. The lawyer was a colleague of my sister in some church; so she was supposed to be a responsible christian. I told the lawyer that she should be responsible in following up a process, taking care of deadlines. I also told her that as we were exchanging emails, everything was registered; so for me, it was very easy to prove that it was her fault. She became very angry and replied that from that moment on, all communication would be in her office, personally. I replied by email questioning her conduct, as she was paid to a very simple task. Would she accomplish it? She didn' t answer.
Yesterday, my sister was very angry with me because, in her opinion, I was very rude with the lawyer. She contacted other lawyer that made some suggestions to her what implied in some burden to me; but she wasn' t clear, open to me about what she was doing, she was just demanding more things. As she reaveald what was happening, I became very upset with my sister; so we had a fight. However, I tried to make my sister understand that, despite the arguing, the Lord has been providing everything and the most important thing was to show love to my mother. I think that I failed in my communication because she left the house without any word.
In this week, we, my family, watched some tapes from the beginning of our marriage when our children were babies. I was the one who recorded most ot the films, interacting with our babies.
Even though I was not talking about the Lord, I could see, clearly, that the Lord was with me, even though I had Arminian views at that moment. I am more and more convinced that the Lord has been guiding my life. This knowledge brings me peace; and yesterday, despite all problems with my sister, I am certain that the Lord has been with me, sustaining me.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Peace
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Work and Sunday
I am taking Sunday as a sacred day, spared to the Lord.
I would really like to study companies, real estate, trends, etc. i.e, money related things; but Sunday must be a different day.
However, the Bible itself talks a lot about money; so on Sunday, I think it is possible to think about money but asking questions such as:
- Am I being greed, trusting on money as some provider to me?
- The Lord set me free from slavery; am I living as a free man?
- I would like very much to have a company where my children work with me. Is it only a dream? I don't have any idea what to do... but would the Lord help me in such enterprise?
The Lord wants that his children work in order to eat.
The first job assigned to man was gardening.
Gardening is very interesting: it is necessary to choose a proper location to the plant, to fight against fungos, insects, birds; etc. It is necessary to participate in God's creation.
I would like to make a familiar enterprise related to some aspect of creation.
Some ideas:
- have a vineyard in Portugal.
- create lambs in Uruguay.
but these ideas are very distant from what I am used to; so let me think some closer ideas:
- English school - Do I know English to myself? Not the greatest idea...
- security - some company that deals with security; cameras installation, image processing, etc.
-
Friday, February 1, 2019
our church is diminishing
Our nikkei church is diminishing. Yesterday one family left it.
I wrote an email to the man. I wrote about communion that we should have, but we haven't. Perhaps, it was my fault and in case of resentments, I asked for pardon. I didn't receive any reply.
In any case, what makes a christian in the Rock is the faith that Jesus cares for him, forgives his sins by his own blood, and lifts him up when sins. So, despite any problem, I have to believe that the Lord keeps my faith.
Around December 2018, Peter and Helen left our church. Peter communicated his decision to our senior pastor's wife but he didn't tell anything directly to him. After decades in our church (in fact, I came much after the couple), they left without saying anything in public. The senior pastor was very disappointed. They didn't talk anything to me or my family. I myself decided not to search for them.
So, what is a church?
Our little church put some emphasis on sunday lunches and commemorative dates. All these feasts put some burden in a few people. After so much communion, people leave the church and in my opinion, all this "communion" is suddenly lost.
For me, the church must focus on the word. I would like to see a church where its attendants enjoy reading the Bible.
Thinking about the word of the Lord, I am preaching there once a month and I wonder if it makes any difference.
Today I read Jeremiah, chapter 11, as I read the Bible one chapter per day (to myself).
Jeremiah preached the Word, but instead of listening carefully to him, they warned him to stop preaching otherwise he would be killed.
The great question is: "Am I preaching according to God's will?" and not: "Do people enjoy my sermons?".
Unfortunately, our nikkei church resembles much more a club. It works on closed doors. It is very rare any new soul visiting our church.
Jeremiah was unpopular because he preached that the Lord would not save his people from its destruction. Jerusalem would be taken by the Babylonians.
I suppose that our church will end very soon.
I pray that the Lord guide my family as I see my family as the main church to lead.
A thought came to my mind: I have to trust in the Lord despite the church is becoming empty.
I wrote an email to the man. I wrote about communion that we should have, but we haven't. Perhaps, it was my fault and in case of resentments, I asked for pardon. I didn't receive any reply.
In any case, what makes a christian in the Rock is the faith that Jesus cares for him, forgives his sins by his own blood, and lifts him up when sins. So, despite any problem, I have to believe that the Lord keeps my faith.
Around December 2018, Peter and Helen left our church. Peter communicated his decision to our senior pastor's wife but he didn't tell anything directly to him. After decades in our church (in fact, I came much after the couple), they left without saying anything in public. The senior pastor was very disappointed. They didn't talk anything to me or my family. I myself decided not to search for them.
So, what is a church?
Our little church put some emphasis on sunday lunches and commemorative dates. All these feasts put some burden in a few people. After so much communion, people leave the church and in my opinion, all this "communion" is suddenly lost.
For me, the church must focus on the word. I would like to see a church where its attendants enjoy reading the Bible.
Thinking about the word of the Lord, I am preaching there once a month and I wonder if it makes any difference.
Today I read Jeremiah, chapter 11, as I read the Bible one chapter per day (to myself).
Jeremiah preached the Word, but instead of listening carefully to him, they warned him to stop preaching otherwise he would be killed.
The great question is: "Am I preaching according to God's will?" and not: "Do people enjoy my sermons?".
Unfortunately, our nikkei church resembles much more a club. It works on closed doors. It is very rare any new soul visiting our church.
Jeremiah was unpopular because he preached that the Lord would not save his people from its destruction. Jerusalem would be taken by the Babylonians.
I pray that the Lord guide my family as I see my family as the main church to lead.
A thought came to my mind: I have to trust in the Lord despite the church is becoming empty.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Alzheimer and bank
Mummy has enough money to buy a real estate (a small real estate in Sao Paulo). It is in a bank, applied to generate pension in old age. Due to the Alzheimer, mommy can' t cash out. I became her curator but in a preliminary phase (tutela) for now. It is very likely that it will become definitive.
We have still to present more documents to the brazilian justice.
This week, I went to the bank on Wednesday and presented me as Mommy's curator, but I didn't retrieve a penny. I felt some kind of silly guy... I came back today and asked to retrieve all money from this pension account. Mommy will have to pay 27.5 % of income tax: 15% at the moment and more 12.5% next year. I was told that the bank will analyze my case and return a position around Tuesday.
I intend to transfer Mommy's money in a shared account between me, brother and sister.
It may be used to improve the house in which they live, turning more adapted to them.
We have still to present more documents to the brazilian justice.
This week, I went to the bank on Wednesday and presented me as Mommy's curator, but I didn't retrieve a penny. I felt some kind of silly guy... I came back today and asked to retrieve all money from this pension account. Mommy will have to pay 27.5 % of income tax: 15% at the moment and more 12.5% next year. I was told that the bank will analyze my case and return a position around Tuesday.
I intend to transfer Mommy's money in a shared account between me, brother and sister.
It may be used to improve the house in which they live, turning more adapted to them.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
amazement
In Matthew 8:
So why Jesus said:
“Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
He said that if the disciples had more faith, they would not be afraid.
But faith in what?
It must be faith in Jesus, in whom He is. I mean that, because it combines with the gospel.
It must not be faith in achieving my will by faith... because it doesn't combine with the gospel and with the Holy Bible.
So the question could be read as:
Why don't you trust in me? I am in the boat and there is nothing to be afraid of.
I am convinced that these kinds of miracles that Jesus performed were pointers, signals to Jesus as the Messiah. I am not seeing these kinds of miracles that defy the law of physics today. (I am almost quoting R C Sproul.)
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping. 25 And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great andwonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness]. 27 The men wondered in amazement, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
My next sermon must be about this text. Matthew is saying "Jesus is the Messiah, the king". He is the king of heaven and he reigns over the creation. He is awesome.
Some preachers will put emphasis on the "little faith" saying that everything can be accomplished by faith, even the supernatural controlling of the nature. Is it really the emphasis of the Matthew book? The gospel is proclaiming Jesus as king, as the savior, the lamb of God; but the gospel is not proclaiming that we may achieve everything by faith in achieving everything. Satan said something similar in the Edem: "rebel and you will become like god".So why Jesus said:
“Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”
He said that if the disciples had more faith, they would not be afraid.
But faith in what?
It must be faith in Jesus, in whom He is. I mean that, because it combines with the gospel.
It must not be faith in achieving my will by faith... because it doesn't combine with the gospel and with the Holy Bible.
So the question could be read as:
Why don't you trust in me? I am in the boat and there is nothing to be afraid of.
I am convinced that these kinds of miracles that Jesus performed were pointers, signals to Jesus as the Messiah. I am not seeing these kinds of miracles that defy the law of physics today. (I am almost quoting R C Sproul.)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
financial freedom
I've just wachted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eag7mKYDvU
It reminds me Dennis Prager talking.
Pastor John MacArthur at 53'31'' of the video, mentions financial freedom as positive concept. The idea is to escape the debt bondage.
Let me rethink the pursuit of financial independence. It must be a different concept than financial freedom. In financial independence, the plan is to escape a job living by passive income. Thus, financial independence (passive income enough to cover the living costs) requires much more wealth then financial freedom (no debt). My thoughts about financial independence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eag7mKYDvU
It reminds me Dennis Prager talking.
Pastor John MacArthur at 53'31'' of the video, mentions financial freedom as positive concept. The idea is to escape the debt bondage.
Let me rethink the pursuit of financial independence. It must be a different concept than financial freedom. In financial independence, the plan is to escape a job living by passive income. Thus, financial independence (passive income enough to cover the living costs) requires much more wealth then financial freedom (no debt). My thoughts about financial independence:
Pros
- A believer may have money. The Bible supports that it is necessary to work. It also supports that the one who works must be paid. Consequently, the Bible supports that a believer receives money (money is not evil). The wise generates wealth what is very necessary to financial independence. In fact, laziness is condemned.
- wealth concentration is not bad because people are different. In the parable of the talents, there is a concentration of wealth. The rich gets richer, the poor, poorer. The world names it as "the principle of Matthew" because it is based on the Matthew gospel. Although the world sees wealth concentration as a sign of greedy, the Bible, in fact, doesn't condemn it. We find the Matthew principle in the Bible (in Matthew and Luke) but I really can't find a verse condemning the rich just for being rich. The greedy person is condemned. It is wise to let the more capable to use more money. It is also foolishness to let the slugger eat without working (as the world advocates and the Bible condemns). So, financial independence must not be condemned just because it concentrates wealth.
- The wise knows how to spend money. He spends less than his income - salary. It is prudent to do so, and foolishness to do otherwise. In general, prudence must lead to wealth.
- The wise plans to invest money and shuns evil. As he doesn't follow the crowd in its foolishness (investing in bitcoin - for instance), he escapes a lot of troubles. The fool wants fast money, the wise doesn't care about it.
- Honest wealth is a blessing because it gives the resources for the rainy days. I think that the Lord blesses me by my job as a professor. Despite this, I am always listening to rumors about problems on my job where I could be fired. It is a relief not to depend only on my salary.
- family support - financial independence enables me to sustain my family easier. Some Christians confuses "live by faith" with "test the Lord" when don't prepare for the rainy days.
- focus - financial independence enables me to separate what is important and what is futile. Even in my job, I could be led to make a lot of foolishness following another professor more important than me, just for the fear of loosing my job.
- opportunities - wealth is like instruction. It opens a world full of opportunities. For instance to travel to a different country. I know I have to be more generous. Wealth may be used for charity - help a brother in need.
Cons
- financial independence as the purpose of living. I live for Jesus and not to have financial independence; but it is very easy to loose focus. Financial independence may be achieved following Jesus, but it is not the goal. In fact, Jesus could ask me to abandon my wealth (I hope not). I confess that I am still focused on it, but I was much more. It requires effort and discipline to understand how money is spent and keep searching for a better allocation. However, it requires effort to follow Jesus too. My wicked heart is very prone to put money in first place as it would be some Provider.
- wasting a life on financial independence. I confess I was spending much more time and effort in achieving financial independence than in following Jesus. I improved, the Lord improved me; but I have to let my Lord works more on my wicked heart. I think that my Lord wants me to be wise on allocating money, but there must be a limit of time spent on this activity. In fact, now I suppose that I will be a better money manager with the Lord.
- lack of contentment. For a non christian, it is very easy never to be satisfied with his wealth. I was like that. Even for a christian, it is very tempting to believe that it is necessary to save more and more and more in a ever accumulating process.
- Jesus said not to accumulate money on earth. The money is not to be closed in some kind of "money generator machine" useful for a egoistical purpose. Perhaps, it would be wise for one person to put a limit to his own wealth. Perhaps, it would be wise to stop earning money and dedicate to a philanthropic cause. Although people are different and we may take wealth concentration as a normal thing, certainly, a believer must not devote his life on accumulating wealth because he has a higher call: to serve the Lord.
- devotion to Mamon = Money as a god. The pursuit of financial independence makes a person to always think on money. I know that because I was like that. I came from a naughty family. The idea of financial independence was practically written in my DNA, but for me, there was some stress, fight with my wife for small money (and she spends big). I don't have to be so naughty; in fact, the Lord wants me to be generous. The Bible (in Timothy) condemns the love of money. It is a great temptation for someone who pursuits financial independence to love money as his redeemer. Jesus asked the rich man to abandon his wealth and follow him in order to have eternal life (at least, when Jesus was replying to his question - Master, what do I have to do to gain eternal life?) but eternal life doesn't come by giving everything to the poor, it comes by the proper faith in Jesus as the Messiah. So, Jesus was in fact telling the rich guy: you are not good, you are greedy and you must surrender to me in order to have eternal life because I am the source of life.
- lack of generosity. It is very easy to believe that financial independence will provide me a good life. When I believe on it, I am very naughty. The Lord wants me to be generous. Generosity is a sign of a Christian. I know I have a lot to improve in this area. I think I am improving... but I am not so sure about that. Let me see: I am not fighting with my wife nowadays about money.
- lack of enjoyment. It is foolishness to work and not enjoy its fruit. In Ec 6: God gives some people great wealth, riches, and honor. They have everything they need and everything they could ever want. But then God does not let them enjoy those things. Some stranger comes and takes everything. This is a very bad and senseless thing. The pursuit of financial independence may restrain some comfort to me, my family and others that is nonsense. This is very clear when I see my parents.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Alliance with Jesus
My next sermon will be about Matthew 8:
Jesus calls us to have an alliance with him, a compromise.
Jesus saw the crowd at his right, left and decided to cross the lake. I suppose, He is not interested in superficial relationships.
A teacher of the law made a great declaration when Jesus was taking the boat:
- "I will follow you wherever you go".
I suppose he expected that Jesus took him on the boat with his disciples as he was leaving the crowd.
Some suppose that the scribe was looking for some vibe as the crowd was around Jesus and he would be closer to Jesus, so the crowd would be around him too. Who knows? Perhaps He saw many miracles. Whatever the reason, he was indeed enchanted by Jesus.
However, Jesus replied:
- "The Son of Man has no home".
As he was a scribe, he should know Daniel 7:
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
So Jesus sounded as:
- "Are you willing to abandon the comfort of your home for the One who is the king over all nations?".
The scribe should sleep in no place previously known. He should follow Jesus in the unknown which would require some faith that Jesus is indeed the Son of Man.
The scribe might be like a teenager that is enchanted by a girl but he is very unstable: she is all to him and suddenly she is nothing to him.
In order to sustain a normal human marriage, there is a lot of adjustments from both sides; there is a lot of dying. A normal marriage leads to some transformation which is painful. A follower of Jesus will always be requested to abandon his way of thinking, his way of seeing the world, and his own wisdom. As the follower is dying to himself, Jesus will be living and modifying his life more and more.
Another disciple (not in the 12) asked him, according to many commentaries,
- "Let me stay with dad as he is old in order to bury him after his death that may happen some years ahead".
In that region, "bury the father" may mean "wait for the father's death and bury him".
I think that this disciple, by opposite, should enter in the boat along others disciples, but he asked to break his journey with Jesus at that point. Jesus told him, according to commentaries:
- "Let the spiritual dead people bury the physical dead people."
as saying that lost people (dead people, people of this world) could handle the burying activity while him, should focus on a more noble mission. Thus, Jesus said:
- "following me is a greater vocation than the obligation to your own family".
Perhaps, as the man would come back to his parents, he would never follow Jesus.
This disciple was being disciplined. He might not be mature enough to leave Jesus and be exposed to his parents thoughts. Imagine that in a marriage, the wife asks for the husband to stay with his old father till he dies. It certainly should destroy the marriage.
Jesus calls me to have a deep relationship with him, an alliance that lasts to the eternity. He calls me to surrender my life to Him, that He will lead me in the unknown, to a new life full of hardships but also full of life. Following Jesus means to put Him in first place, even above the most deer ones.
For me, marriage had a great impact on my life. A solitary person lives for himself while a married person lives for his family. I, as a father, had to do a lot of things I didn't like. I went many times to hospitals due to my daughter but at the end, I am happier. In some way, I had to put my interests bellow my family.
An alliance with Jesus is very similar to a marriage where we find more joy, a more abundant life; but this is accomplished by continually saying: "Jesus, you are the Lord; your will come first."
An addendum:
What is a greater vocation than the obligation to my own family? The local church that works as a club? I suppose not. The Bible stress to honor the parents in the Old and New testaments. Some pastors take care of the crowd in a church and abandons their families. What a tragedy!
However, Jesus is really greater than my parents, my spouse and children. In fact, I have a great obligation to lead them all to Jesus. My family is my main church.
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus calls us to have an alliance with him, a compromise.
Jesus saw the crowd at his right, left and decided to cross the lake. I suppose, He is not interested in superficial relationships.
A teacher of the law made a great declaration when Jesus was taking the boat:
- "I will follow you wherever you go".
I suppose he expected that Jesus took him on the boat with his disciples as he was leaving the crowd.
Some suppose that the scribe was looking for some vibe as the crowd was around Jesus and he would be closer to Jesus, so the crowd would be around him too. Who knows? Perhaps He saw many miracles. Whatever the reason, he was indeed enchanted by Jesus.
However, Jesus replied:
- "The Son of Man has no home".
As he was a scribe, he should know Daniel 7:
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
So Jesus sounded as:
- "Are you willing to abandon the comfort of your home for the One who is the king over all nations?".
The scribe should sleep in no place previously known. He should follow Jesus in the unknown which would require some faith that Jesus is indeed the Son of Man.
The scribe might be like a teenager that is enchanted by a girl but he is very unstable: she is all to him and suddenly she is nothing to him.
In order to sustain a normal human marriage, there is a lot of adjustments from both sides; there is a lot of dying. A normal marriage leads to some transformation which is painful. A follower of Jesus will always be requested to abandon his way of thinking, his way of seeing the world, and his own wisdom. As the follower is dying to himself, Jesus will be living and modifying his life more and more.
Another disciple (not in the 12) asked him, according to many commentaries,
- "Let me stay with dad as he is old in order to bury him after his death that may happen some years ahead".
In that region, "bury the father" may mean "wait for the father's death and bury him".
I think that this disciple, by opposite, should enter in the boat along others disciples, but he asked to break his journey with Jesus at that point. Jesus told him, according to commentaries:
- "Let the spiritual dead people bury the physical dead people."
as saying that lost people (dead people, people of this world) could handle the burying activity while him, should focus on a more noble mission. Thus, Jesus said:
- "following me is a greater vocation than the obligation to your own family".
Perhaps, as the man would come back to his parents, he would never follow Jesus.
This disciple was being disciplined. He might not be mature enough to leave Jesus and be exposed to his parents thoughts. Imagine that in a marriage, the wife asks for the husband to stay with his old father till he dies. It certainly should destroy the marriage.
Jesus calls me to have a deep relationship with him, an alliance that lasts to the eternity. He calls me to surrender my life to Him, that He will lead me in the unknown, to a new life full of hardships but also full of life. Following Jesus means to put Him in first place, even above the most deer ones.
For me, marriage had a great impact on my life. A solitary person lives for himself while a married person lives for his family. I, as a father, had to do a lot of things I didn't like. I went many times to hospitals due to my daughter but at the end, I am happier. In some way, I had to put my interests bellow my family.
An alliance with Jesus is very similar to a marriage where we find more joy, a more abundant life; but this is accomplished by continually saying: "Jesus, you are the Lord; your will come first."
An addendum:
What is a greater vocation than the obligation to my own family? The local church that works as a club? I suppose not. The Bible stress to honor the parents in the Old and New testaments. Some pastors take care of the crowd in a church and abandons their families. What a tragedy!
However, Jesus is really greater than my parents, my spouse and children. In fact, I have a great obligation to lead them all to Jesus. My family is my main church.
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