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 We think of perfect when we think of heaven. At least I do. 1 Peter 1:12 tells us that angels really want to look into the workings of the salvation process, but it seems to be a mystery to them. Isn't that interesting? Those perfectly created beings are lacking in understanding of how Christ saves sinners like you and me.  Ephesians 3:10 says that the angels will be shown the amazing grace of God in salvation through the ages of eternity. Hebrews 1:14 says that those same angels serve the saved. So they have a part in our lives but can't quite figure out how we are or should be saved.  Isn't that our question too? How can God save such as I? Like the author of the Great hymn 'Amazing Grace' emphasized, Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.  So amazing in fact, that it will take eternity to explain. 

I have determined to write a devotional thought every day this year, and here I am on April 23rd with seemingly nothing to report. So it must be that I'll have a brainstorm in just a few minutes.  Let's see. Ah yes! In our Bible study with Cida today, we talked about salvation. How that God planned it before time began. Ephesians 1:4 tells us a smidgen about that plan. We also talked about how, if we look at the world around us, we can see that there are seemingly nothing but sinners in every level of society and every country of the world. We know that this is the case because of what Romans 3:10 and 3:23 tell us. There is none righteous, not even one.  We saw that sin had affected human life more than covid or any other flu in history. It has a 100 percent kill rate. No-one escapes. All die. Genesis 5 tells the story of Adam's breaking race. Eight times in that chapter, the little phrase "and he died" shouts total extinction.  However, there is hope in Christ. J...

 What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?"  This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd.  Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah.  With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....

Years ago there was this guy that always seemed to be in the TV cameras viewfinder at football games. He had a wild multi-colored afro and was holding a makeshift sign with "John 3:16" scrawled on it. Do you remember him? I believe that in his own weird way he was trying to get the message out. But what was the message?  John 3:16 is without doubt the most recognized verse in the Bible. Most Sunday school kids learn John 3:16 before any other verse. It is an important verse that contains a crucial truth of the Christian faith. We learn it early and can say it so fast that we mostly breeze through it without thinking. So let's think about it.  Here is the whole verse, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  As with all of scripture, John 3:16 has a context. Many scholars believe that this verse was not spoken by Jesus but was a commentary by John. In chapter thr...

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him ... Ephesians 1:4 I often hyperventilate on this verse and its proposition of God’s choice of his own, before creation. It is a mindboggeling concept and one very worthy of much study. Whatever your understanding about God’s choice, that choice is for one purpose. Look at it again, Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight... We were chosen to be “holy and blameless”.  For a fallen people, this choosing of holy and perfect people is an impossible task. You can’t find what doesn’t exist. Paul stated this fact in his letter to the Roman believers when he said, “ as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. .." (Romans 3:10-11). Where was it “written”? In Psalm 14 and 53 of course. Paul’s quote is taken from these two Davidic psalms. The “none perf...

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him... Ephesians 1:4 I often hyperventilate on this verse and its proposition of God’s choice of his own, before creation. It is a mindboggeling concept and one very worthy of much study. Whatever your understanding about God’s choice, that choice is for one purpose. Look at it again, Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight... We were chosen to be “holy and blameless”.  For a fallen people, this choosing of holy and perfect people is an impossible task. You can’t find what doesn’t exist. Paul stated this fact in his letter to the Roman believers when he said, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God..." (Romans 3:10-11). Where was it “written”? In Psalm 14 and 53 of course. Paul’s quote is taken from these two Davidic psalms. The “none perfect”...

  1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” The whole book of Acts is transitional in that it tells of the beginning of the church. Acts chapter ten is pivotal for us non-jews. Jesus leaves his instructions to be witnesses, to the uttermost part of the earth. However, until chapter ten this, witness work, has taken place only in or near Jerusalem and to the Jews. Not un...

Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. While we could go into a discussion on abortion with this verse as proof text that God sees the unborn as already planned, we won't. Not that it isn't a worthy topic, because it is. It is an urgent subject that needs to be screamed from the house tops.  What I want to think about this today is the ordination of our days. In his Supreme power and creative control, God knows the future. In his omnipresence, he is already in the future. You've heard the phrase, "God lives outside of time." He has no time constraints. He not only isn't under a deadline he has completed his creative work.  We see some of this thought in this verse when David says that God has ordained our days. He has them planned out. They are recorded in his book.  This does not mean that God guesses about how long that you are going to live. This means that he knows,...

  John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. How many times have you read these words and taken comfort in what Jesus was saying? I have used this text when giving the gospel. Chapter ten of John's gospel is an amazing passage. Jesus used the sheep fold as an illustration of salvation and separation. Sheep in the fold are safe and the fold is a way of separating the true sheep from those outside the fold.  Jesus knows his sheep and they know him. His voice is familiar.  Shepherds care for their flock by calling them. Their familiar voice brings direction and comfort. The shepherd calls the sheep into the sheep pen at night to keep them safe. Salvation in Christ is the safe.  Notice that it is Christ that gives eternal life. This is a ...

In the beginning was the Word  John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. In this incredible paragraph we have a summary of who Jesus is and what he has done. In an economy of words that stuns us we see that Jesus was the communication from God to man, the Word. Jesus was eternal because he was with God in eternity. Jesus is Divine because he is God. To emphasize his point, as if he had to, John says it again, "This same Jesus, was with God in the beginning.  He goes on with another astounding declaration," All that exists was made by him". Here, if we pause to contemplate what he just said, we realize that Jesus is incomprehensible. We begin to grasp a molecule of Jesus' humility in Paul's words in his Philippian letter, "(Jesus), ...

  1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Did you ever read this verse and feel like you were less spiritual because you were afraid of something? The inner conversation goes something like this, "I'm afraid, and the Bible says that 'perfect love casts out all fear...' so, I must be sinning." If you've been there and done that, then let's look closer at the meaning of this verse.  As with all Bible study, we must remember that there is a context with each verse. The type of literature, the time period, the author intent and theme, all play a critical role in our understanding of each text. Sometimes just a quick look at the provided headings in each chapter will help you better understand the context. In my Bible app the given heading of this section is, " God's love and ours " In 1 John 4 there is a lot of love going on in f...

The  Lord  is my  rock and my  fortress and my deliverer ... Psalm 18.2 How about, Rock, Fortress, Deliverer? These descriptives are used by musician David in Psalm 18 to depict Jehovah. We have read them any number of times in our annual Bible readings. However, stopping just now to ponder them I wonder about their significance. Rock - Think, Gibraltar, Stone Mountain or Sugar Loaf. Think, Ayers Rock, El Capitan or Everest. Rocks don't move. They are ever stable, steady and strong. They are always there. Stuff comes, happens and goes but rocks don't. Jehovah is Rocklike. He is more rocklike than Everest because He has always been and will always be. Jehovah is my Rock! Fortress - A fortress can be a constructed or natural hiding place. It can be in a city, desert, mountain or cave. A fortress is a place of safety. It defends. It stymies the enemy. One can run to it and rest in hiding. God as Fortress is impervious. Jehovah is my Fortress. Deliverer - Unlike a rock...

When I was a kid my family went to Cooperstown New York and visited the baseball Hall of Fame. I don't remember much about the visit except that there were a lot of bronze statues and busts of a lot of unknown (to me) players from the early 20th Century. Getting into the baseball Hall of Fame is expensive. It costs you a lifetime of hard work and dedication. Thousands of professionals have played the game but few make it into the hallowed halls at Cooperstown. Hebrews chapter eleven is the Hall of Fame in the Bible. Each one named there has a special place in the history of what God has done and is doing through faith. Verse thirteen is the amazing result of all of this faith! These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. These men and women were characterized by faith to the point of death. They were promised things which they nev...

Zechariah 12 As a kid I often saw my dad sharpening a tool on his table grinder. The sparks that flew brought wonder. They were myriad and beautiful. When he was done there was a tiny pile of shavings that I could play with. I’d get a magnet and create fantastic miniature sculptures with the whisks. What is a spark? You might be surprised. Robert Hooke studied the sparks created by striking a piece of flint and steel together. He found that the sparks were usually particles of the steel which had become red hot and so melted into globules. These sparks can be used to ignite tinder and so start a fire. In colonial America, flint and steel were used to light fires when easier methods failed. Scorched linen was commonly used as tinder to catch the spark and start the fire but producing a good spark could take much time. A spinning steel wheel provided a good stream of sparks when it engaged the flint and a tinderbox designed to do this was known as a mill. In a modern lighter or...

Genesis 7 I always think that Noah and family were safe and sound inside the ark with their personal zoo before the first drop of water hit that titanic ship. It may have been that way. However, the verse order in Genesis 7 makes me wonder. Have you ever noticed it? Look at verses 11 - 16.  11  In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13  In the selfsame day entered Noah , and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; 14  They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15  And they went in unto Noah into the...

Tais Give me just one job....  It was my job to fill the baptistery at Calvary. We used that church because we don't have our own yet. I was told that it, "takes ALL day long to fill up." I turned on the water at 11:00 AM and let it run. Later that evening I returned to turn it off. As I entered the darkened building something didn't look right. It almost looked as if the tank was empty. But I heard water running. I stuck my arm into the "empty" tank only to find it to the BRIM and overflowing onto the platform! Praise the Lord for wet-vacs. The carpet was still damp on Saturday but that didn't stop the girls from being baptized. The Word was preached and both sets of parents heard the Gospel.  We saw the Lord work in a special way earlier in the week too. Wednesday was Children's Day. It is a BIG deal hear in Brazil and we had an activity for the little ones. There were several kids who made decisions to receive Christ. The Lord gave us perfec...

Graziele / Cris Grazilele (hard to pronounce if you are not a Brazilian) and Cris are getting baptized on Saturday night. Baptism is a big step of faith and these young ladies are ready. Grazi accepted the Lord several years ago when Company C was in it's infancy. She was invited to club by a friend, who has since left, and not long afterwards she opened her heart to the Savior. She is a determined twelve going on twenty year old. When Grazi sets her mind on a task she usually gets it done. Dawn has been teaching her Bible lessons and sewing skills recently and she's noted Grazi's abilities. Grazi plays the recorder in o ur orchestra. Cris is Alexandre's youngest sister. She accepted Christ when her older sister Dani shared her own personal decision a few years back. Cris always has a smile on her face and is a ready helper too. She is quiet but gifted. She is learning to play the violin and is also a part of our growing orchestra. Both of these gi...

Saturday was Green Day at Bible Club! My team worked really hard and because of their excellent effort we finally WON first place for the day. With that win came our first Gold Star! The only problem was that it was the last day of competition before the graduation ceremony to Delta Sector. That happens next Saturday. The kids memorized Ephesians 6.10-17 and all that can say it next week in front of everyone will be promoted to that new level of fun. Mother’s Day was special too. We had a great attendance for the second annual Dessert afternoon. There were sixteen mothers present and several family members. Dawn counted eighty-four total! The above pictures the kids giving their moms little presents that Joelma and Dawn had made for them The Lord is at work but the news is not all good. A mom raised her hand at the invitation on Sunday, two kids came to talk to me about accepting Christ on Saturday after club. Those are good signs. The bad news came when one of our faith...

  We had a great weekend of activities at Faith Baptist of Sorocaba. Saturday night we took six teens to a youth rally at Hope. There were over a hundred teens there to hear a great challenge from the Word. Earlier on Saturday afternoon we had over fifty kids at Bible Club. Many had participated in club in the past but had left for one reason or another. The club's new theme has a "Mission Impossible" type emphasis. Each week the three teams get a "Mission" that they have to work out during the week. On Saturday they come with either a successful or a failed mission. Success brings boo-cu points and failure brings latrine duty! The Green team (mine) did really well Saturday but we were edged out by the blue team 1300 to 150. The Red team got latrine. During club a little boy showed up that I wasn't exactly excited about having. He is a little "demon" or at least that is what I've heard. His name is Alex. He lives next-door to our newest ...

We had a wonderful week! It's great to be able to spend this special time of the year with good friends.  Wednesday we visited João’s mother Marcia. João was baptized last week and his mother was touched by the message. During the visit our coworker Joelma shared her testimony and Marcia made a profession of faith! That was a VERY great start to the Easter weekend. Friday we showed the film Thief in the Night . Do you remember that movie? It was hard for me to get over the goofy clothing and old cars. Did we really look like that back in the 60s? Our group, however,  thought that it was a very interesting film and they had questions about Christ’s return. It was a rainy night but we still had ten that watched and ate popcorn. Saturday at Club we had about 38 kids and teens on another rainy day. Bible  Club is in a bit of a transition. We now have three teams in what is called the Alpha Sector ! The teams will compete for rewards, special outings and a promotion t...