Evangelistic Crusade

Saturday night I took the Praise and Worship Team and the Youth Choir to participate in an open air evangelistic crusade. It's in the same neighborhood where I take the Praise and Worship Team every Monday night with the objective of reaching the university students of UNICAMP (Universidade de Campinas). The little church is located just across the street from the UNICAMP students quarters and the campaign was almost in their front gate!

Party Time!

After the evangelistic crusade we all took off to a friend's house for Neandro's birthday party. Birthday's are a great excuse to just be together ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEADRO !!

Latin America Ladies Conference

I recently attended the Latin America Ladies Conference for missionary wives (and singles) who work in Latin America. It was held in Fort Lauderdale, FL The objective was spiritual renewal, fellowship and getting tools for the "trade" into our hands. Since Randall and I are now working with couples I choose a workshop on marriage presented by the Gary Smalley Institute. It was great.

Bible School Class : Galatians 3

Paul had preached the gospel of grace to the Galatians and by believing in this message they were forgiven, delivered, sanctified and baptized in the Holy Spirit. They also had those among them that received gifts of power manifestations through this same message of grace and faith. Life was wonderfully different----They were free from condemnation in the realms of the gospel of grace.

Then the judaeizers or legalists from Judaism came on the scene teaching that simple faith in the gospel of Christ is not enough by itself. This belief or simple faith that Jesus Christ as the Son of God made the perfect sacrifice for our redemption and reconciliation to God, is all that is necessary, if we believe in Him and His work to be saved, born again, redeemed and reconciled to God.

We have a strong history in Brazil of the Pentecostal Judaeizers holding on, not to the Mosaic Law, but their own version of rules or laws in addition to the gospel for a person to be really accepted as a member of the local AG church (their interpretation of the body of Christ). Imagine the impact of teaching the gospel of grace as presented in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians to a mixed class of legalists and gospel of grace adherents. We have had a few of nights of sparks flying as I have taught emphatically the gospel of grace. The legalists were not happy but I did as Paul said in Gal 2:5 "To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you."

So tonight I taught on Galatians 3. Among other things I emphasized….

(Gal 3:1) O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

(Gal 3:2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

(Gal 3:3) Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

(Gal 3:4) Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain.

(Gal 3:5) He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The manifestations of the grace of God: salvations, healings, miracles or casting out of devils, are not produced by legalistic or ceremonial works based on the Mosaic Law or modern laws of men. They are produced by the preaching of faith in the grace of Christ. One sure way to kill or dampen a wonderful moving of the Holy Spirit and other gracious operations of the Spirit is to start adding our laws to God's Grace, suggesting that God's Grace alone is not enough.OH HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT GAVE WITNESS TO THE TRUTH THAT WAS TAUGHT AS IT WAS TAUGHT!!! A paraphrase of one of the great themes of the reformation is still enough; Only Grace; Only Faith and Only the Scripture. That's enough!!!!!!

Exciting News Two New Releases of ICI Bible Institute Textbooks

Praise God Two new Bible Institute Textbooks are with the printers in final stages of checking before printing. The first, CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP : The Responsible Christian is to start printing next week. The second EVANGELISM : Sharing the Good News, probably will go to press within a week or two. More good news to come shortly about three more releases within the next two or three months. When this happens, We will have completed the production of the 18 course textbooks for Global University's Bible Institute level Christian Service program. Good solid Bible institute / college curriculum complete packages are in short supply for the overwhelming demand in exploding pentecostal revival that has been going on here for decades. David Harrison, President ICI Evangelism Brazil, has raised the funds for publishing these books and I get to publish them while he is in the states fund raising to maintain the ICI office operations.

1st nite Class Romans Galations

Usually 1st nights are noisy and confusing. Tonight God's glory came down in both 1st and 2nd year classes. In the 2nd year class right away the spirit of prophecy was manifested as I was inspired to encourage them that God's call would be fulfilled in them completely in spite of disappointments, Phi. 1:6. We must get to know God not just as a Santa Clause, forever seeking material things, but as He is: his character, his attributes : holiness, compassion, longsuffering, love, mercy, wisdom, power, faithfulness, incorruptible,etc. These are constant whether or not he answers a specific prayer to our liking. We must get even beyond the desire of just having a promise from God. For there will be times when we will face situations for which we don't recall a specific promise, but if we know God for who he is; then we like Abraham can say I believe God or in God regardless of what he does or does not do for me. Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. When we know God as a personal God and his traits we can trust and believe in him when all is darkness and disappointment.
Then in the 1st year class we also had a very powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit as we dealt with the grace of God in our lives. We talked about "just grace is it enough?" based on the question are you willing to allow God to save whoever he wants to and however he wants to, even when you don't like the person or behavior of the person God is saving or blessing. This was a stretching experience for some of them since we had some people who had been Satanists etc and still had evidences of a need to yet grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord.