Theology, opinion, fiction, and the occasional limerick.
Never mind the fact that it is just an insignificant pastor of an insignificant congregation in Florida. Never mind that similar events would be a lot more common in the Arab world if the Bible were actually allowed in the Arab world. And never mind that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion…
The Tragic Fruit of Non-Cessationist Theology True Story #1 Nina Rodrigues is a little town in the interior of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. It is small, but very well kept. The populace is traditional—mostly Roman Catholic, but there are also a few Charismatic churches. In one of these Charismatic congregations not too long ago…
As we hiked around the city of Caririaçu the other day, Nathanael and I happened on what appeared to be a dead end street. Curious as to why the city government decided to end the street at that location–with a large neighborhood just beyond–we walked toward the fence. When we reached it, we discovered that…
Beginning tomorrow you will be able to follow the adventures of Missionary Max here on this blog. Several years ago I made a brief foray into fiction, trying to write the chapters of the story as I went. After a short period of time I abandoned this as impractical. For the last two years I…
I have mixed emotions about taxis. My tight-fisted Scottish nature recoils at the high fares. Yet the writer and conversationalist in me enjoys hearing stories – and few people have better stories to tell than Brazilian cabbies. Of course, once the cabbie finds out I am American, the subject turns to the US, and suddenly…
One of my students was talking about biblical interpretation on his blog. As an illustration, he posted the following video. My jaw dropped open as I watched. The video is from a popular Brazilian TV show called “Fantástico”. The announcer begins by saying that the next story involves an Evangelical pastor, his neighbor, and his…
For those of you who have been following our Twitter feed, we have arrived safe and sound in Campinas, São Paulo, and are now thoroughly enjoying the BMM do Brasil family conference. Tomorrow I will begin putting up some pictures and observations. For today, however, I wanted to leave you with something to contemplate. I…
Dear US Pastor, The next time you are tempted to turn down a request for a meeting from some poor missionary appointee to Brazil with the comment that “Brazil is pretty much evangelized”, please check out this article. Brazil is indeed becoming more “evangelical” as opposed to Roman Catholic, but, as you can see from…
A good friend in the US once sent me an e-mail he had received. It is highly likely that most of you have received this e-mail as well. It details several people who made flippant or disrespectful comments about God, and died horrible, untimely deaths. My friend was especially interested in the fact that three…
…from one who still fits into that category. Jim over at Missionary Blog Watch recently challenged us missionary bloggers to give some advice to new missionaries on the field. What follows is my own humble contribution. The first two are about work with nationals, and the second two are about relations with supporters. 1. Learn…