James 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. In my ever-so-humble opinion, one of the most underrated films of recent days was Disney’s reboot of The Lone Ranger. One of the “running gags” of the movie involves Tonto, hilariously interpreted by Johnny Depp, making dubious…
As Itacyara and I look back on last weekend, our hearts are full as we contemplate how almost a decade of investment, blood, sweat, and tears have finally paid off in the form of a Pastors and Wives retreat at the Mount Zion Baptist Camp. And as of two weeks ago it wasn’t even on…
Wow…only two books this month. I really must read shorter books! The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm by William Manchester and Paul Reid I have finally completed Manchester’s three-volume series on Winston Churchill. I was a little apprehensive upon beginning this last volume, as Manchester only lived long enough to compile the material and…
…knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. In last week’s installment of our verse-by-verse examination of the book of James, we noted that the author gives us a somewhat counter-intuitive instruction. In the face of trials, we are to “consider it joy”. Consider is a mind word, not a emotion word. James is…
As I’ve mentioned before, I see it as one of my duties to inform the rest of the world about one of Brazil’s best-kept secrets – the city of São Luís. Recently this promotional video from 1999 has surfaced, showing our lovely city as it looked back then. It appears to have been aimed at…
When I was a teenager I got a job at a local fast-food restaurant. As we lived out in the country, my parents graciously (perhaps a tad naively) allowed me to use the family car to make the communte. To get to work, I had to navigate a particularly curvy stretch of asphalt known as…
Here, once again, are some random snapshots of our life here in Brazil. These and others can be found on our Instagram feed. Itacyara’s unfailing artistic eye… View this post on Instagram A post shared by Andrew Comings (@andrewcomings) While we were on lockdown, this was a new reality. View this post on Instagram…
The following is the first in a series of devotionals I have given at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Wednesday evenings. I will be posting new installments every Monday. Introduction In order to fully understand a book, it helps to know at least a little about the author. What James tells us about himself in…
I thought quarantine would mean that I got to read more books. Silly me. Still, I did manage to get some reading in. Here’s the list for May. And, if you’re interested, here’s my running tally for 2020. Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkein, complied and edited by Christopher Tolkein I’m doing some reading into…
Our church has always been a singing church. Since the pandemic hit several weeks ago, we have been having our services online, and whatever its strengths, Zoom is not conducive to congregational music. That hasn’t stopped us from singing, however. Here is a video of four young ladies from our church, ministering to an online…