Theology, opinion, fiction, and the occasional limerick.
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…
The other day I was having a conversation with an area pastor, in which he lightheartedly disparaged my choice of Brazilian soccer teams. To be honest, I really don’t follow the Brazilian leagues that much, but everybody has to have a team, so I picked Palmeiras. It just so happens that the Palmeiras team is…
Last Monday night I was suffering from a headache and insomnia, and so, while everybody else was sleeping, I was in the living room intermittently reading and watching TV. Presently I heard a banging sound coming from outside, indicating that our gate had not been properly shut. A light breeze was causing one metal door…
This is the continuation of the previous post. As I sat rested comfortably in the front seat of Jim Leonard’s SUV, I breathed a sigh of relief. The adventure was over. Boy was I wrong. Back at the car, Daniel had taken his job of protecting the women and Mikey very seriously. Fortunately, they received…
Anybody who is tempted to think that missionary work is boring needs to read this article. My trips with our students to visit their practical ministries have typically been anything but boring. I have crossed precarious bridges, had encounters with exotic wildlife, and met a host of interesting people. None of this, however, came close…