Theology, opinion, fiction, and the occasional limerick.
Rebecca is a sweet ten-year-old girl in our church who was so looking forward to her birthday party, scheduled for last Saturday. Unfortunately, the Corona Virus stepped in and changed those plans. Needless to say, she was very disappointed. Unable to visit, I decided to send this letter instead. Perhaps it will help others dealing…
As a missionary with a vital stake in the trends that periodically sweep the Western theological and ecclesiastical landscape, I have been following with interest the growth of a “woke” or “diversity” or “critical race” discussion that has taken place over the past several years. If I can be allowed to summarize a very complex…
Roman Province of Israel, ca 30 AD The Twitter-sphere erupted in outrage yesterday due to inflammatory remarks made by a popular Bible teacher from Nazareth. Jesus, referred to by some of his more radical followers as “the Christ”, reportedly used the terms “brood of vipers”, “whitewashed sepulchers” and “blind leaders of the blind” in reference…
Our co-worker Francivaldo and his beautiful bride Géssica officially tied the knot in a lovely ceremony on Saturday – a ceremony at which I had the privilege of bringing a challenge from the Word to the young couple. Here, with some adaptation…and memes…are my remarks to them. Francivaldo and Géssica, you need to be aware…
The first I heard of the Netflix documentary The Edge of Democracy (Democracia em Vertigem in Portuguese, trailer here) was when several of my left-leaning Brazilian friends enthusiastically recommended it on social media. As I am always interested in how Brazil is portrayed in the US, my interest was immediately piqued. After watching it, I…
In the course of a recent online discussion on the merits of a pluralistic society, particularly where Christianity is concerned, a good friend recommended that I read up on eminent sociologist and theologian Peter Berger (1929-2017). Selecting his last work, The Many Altars of Modernity: Toward a Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age, I…
The latest in a series of posts based on messages in Luke that we are currently preaching at the Ebenezer Regular Baptist Church. “Man, I should have said that!” The above words have escaped my lips on numerous occasions, as the perfect comeback to an argument arrives in my head…days, weeks, months after the conversation…
Every year I am invited to give a talk on Easter to a group of English students at a local university. In the past I have focused on proofs of the resurrection. This time, however, I decided to approach the subject from a different angle, talking about the significance of Easter. What follows is a…
Danilo Gentili is a highly successful Brazilian comedian and talk-show host. He can be downright hilarious. He also takes special joy in skewering pompous (usually, but not always, leftist) politicians, in very irreverent ways. And that last one could land him in jail. It all started when he posted some pretty disrespectful tweets about a…
On Tuesday Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited US President Trump in Washington. The visit, of course, generated much press here in Brazil, and in the US as well. Amidst all the hoopla, the two presidents hammered out several agreements, all of which can be found here. Among said agreements is this one: Now, there is…