The Blog I Wish I Didn't Have to Write

OK. Let me say that, “I think it’s vital that I be as honest as possible with you. Because that’s one of the most important things to me. And it’s the one thing that I’ve always tried to be with you (through this blog), honest. It always has been, and it always will be. I don’t think that there’s any reason to ‘flower things over’ if things are tough. And there’s no need to just ignore or deny the fact that we (as fully devoted followers of Jesus) have problems, just so it looks like we have the perfect family with the perfect little life (whatever that is) either. Because even though we’ve got issues doesn’t change the fact that God is still God. He’s still our refuge. And we still trust Him even in the midst of the struggles and uncertainty. 

OK. Here we go...

Back in 08’ we felt like God was asking us to adopt. Even though we already had 3 children and didn’t really want any more children, we did what we thought God was asking us to do... adopt. What started out as us adopting a sibling group of 2 eventually morphed into us adopting a sibling group of 5. Crazy, right? If you want to see the whole story click HERE to go to the blog that explains the whole journey. 

Anyway, before we actually adopted our kids, we had these visions of bringing kids into the family that would be sooooo thankful and sooooo grateful that we had done this for them. We were wrong. 

We also thought that just because we were doing what God had called us to do, that it was going to be an easy task. You know... we were following Jesus and all. We were wrong.

We also thought that giving them (our adopted kids) unconditional love and acceptance would somehow eliminate all the hurt and rejection that they had experienced up until the point that we adopted them. And we thought that somehow they wouldn’t have a ton of issues 4 years down the line (like they did in the beginning). We were wrong.

If you follow us here on the blog, you know that we’ve had some problems with all of our kids but especially with our oldest adopted son, Marlon. If not click HERE to see some of the stuff I’m talking about. But something that you probably don’t know is that he’s been gone again for over a month now. He left home 6+ weeks ago and hasn’t come back. As a matter of fact, if you want to know the truth, we don’t want him back (in his current condition) and we can’t allow him back into the home. We’ve been dealing with major issues in his life for over 4 years now (most of which are criminal) and enough is enough. We can’t allow the rest of the family to be endangered any longer because of him and the things he does. I actually had to sit down and write out a timeline of everything that he’s done (criminally) for the police over the last 4 years and it’s crazy. The things that we’ve had to walk-through with him and the things that the rest of the family has been subjected to, because of him, is stupid! This definitely isn’t what we envisioned when we walked out of the orphanage with him 4 and a half years ago. 

So now what? What do we do when the thing that we know that God asked us to do is bringing us so much hurt, heartache and pain? And why would God lead us to do something that seems like “a major fail?” God asked us to do it and He knew it would turn out this way ahead of time and yet, “He still led us to do it.” Why? I don’t have the answers and you know what? It’s OK. 

We think that we can write the story-line and dictate the ending to every story but we can’t. It’s God’s story and He’s the one that gets to determine how it looks and even how it ends. And not every story is perfect and has a fairytale ending either. And if you think I’m wrong theologically, you’ve obviously never read about (in the Bible and in secular history books) how most of the disciples and early believers lived and how they ended up. Or maybe you’ve never read Hebrews 11 where it talks about the heroes of the faith who were tortured, mocked, flogged, destitute, imprisoned, killed with the sword, stoned, and some were even sawn in two because they had decided to follow after God and His plan for them. What do we do with their stories? Do we think that, “that was then and my life here on the earth will surely be different?” If we do then we’re deceiving ourselves. Now I’m not saying that everything is doom and gloom. I’m not one of those guys. But if we’re truly following after Jesus and doing what He’s asked us to do, surely some things aren’t gonna turn out exactly the way we think. And we’ve got to rest in the fact that He is God and we are not. It’s His story and not ours. He determines the outcome not us. It’s like that for everything and everyone. 

Some people who are sick will be healed when we pray. But some people are going to die. But even so, we still pray in faith for the sick because the bible tells us to (Mark 16:18, James 5:14). 

Some relationships are going to be restored when we try to make them work but some won’t. But even though we can’t control the outcome, we still love and forgive that person because the bible tells us to (Matthew 5:44-45, Matthew 18:21-22, Romans 12:19-21). 

Some kids are going to follow our instructions, but some may rebel, even though we try to point them to Christ. But we still train them in righteousness because the bible tells us to (Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6). 

We don’t get to write the story. He does because it's His story. He is God and we are not.

The question that we always need to ask is, “did I do everything that the Holy Spirit asked me to do in the situation or did I disobey Him?” If I disobeyed and that’s why things turned out bad and all jacked-up, then I need to repent and do what He tells me to do. But if I obeyed and the outcome was negative and not what I thought it would be (or should be)... then “it is what it is,” and I need to trust Him (God), period. End of story.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because right now we’re hurting. We’re hurting and we’re mad. Hurting because we love Marlon and it breaks our heart to know that he’s chosen to take the path he has. And mad, well... because we love Marlon and our hearts are broken that he’s chosen the path that he’s chosen. And we need you to pray for us. We’ve done what God has asked us to do. And we’ve shown unconditional love in spite of the things he’s done. But we can’t make him follow Jesus or even follow the rules of the house. We can’t make him ‘not be a criminal’ if that’s what he chooses. Our responsibility is to train our children and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading on how to raise our kids. If we do that, then we’ve done what we’re suppose to do. The decision to actually do what we’re leading them to do is all on them. And right now Marlon is choosing to do his own thing. So, please pray for him and for the rest of the family. We really need it.

Still Passionately Following Jesus,

Jim and MJ

PS- we spoke with Brazilian DFACS and they removed him from a house that he was staying at (it was a very dangerous place for a kid to be) and have him in custody and are getting him some help. We'll keep you posted on how he's doing. Thanks for praying: )

Jungle Challenge

We finally finished the obstacle course! It’s taken over 5 months of back-breaking work to get it done but it’s finally completed! What would’ve only taken a couple of weeks to complete in the States has literally taken months and hundreds of man hours to complete, here in the jungles of Brazil. No machines were used to mix cement or move materials. No crane was used to raise and lower the larger pieces into place. No. Everything was done by hand and mostly with child labor (sorry kids!). There were a few doubters and naysayers (in yo’ face!) but with a lot of teamwork and determination it was able to be completed. 

And just in time for all the camps we’ll be having throughout the Spring and Summer months (September-March) here in Brazil. 

I’d like to publicly give a big thank you to my father-in-law who was able to take the vision that I had (along with a few pathetic sketches) and actually make this a reality. Thank’s to all my kids for moving most of the materials (sand, gravel, cement, wood, etc.) deep into the jungle even though you only received candy for pay. Thanks to my brother-in-law and my nephews who somehow got suckered into helping with all the most laborious work. It’s a miracle none of us got hurt... for real.Thanks to the Firth’s who came for 2 weeks from the States and helped us pour a majority of the concrete. And finally, a big thank you to all of our supporters who gave financially throughout the months of April-August. Your giving literally made this project possible. Thank You!

Love Ya!

Jim and MJ

Jungle Challenge: A Quick Overview

The Jungle Challenge is a team building obstacle course that we’ve designed and constructed so that we can have another “draw” for the camp. Getting children and teenagers here is step number 1. Because once we have students here at the camp, amidst having a great time, they're going to experience the Gospel. This is always our main purpose for doing everything that we do... "presenting the Gospel and making disciples."

The course starts out with something we’ve named “The Trust Fall.” Students have to (one at a time) stand on top of a 2'x 2' concrete platform 4’ off the ground, face away from their team, cross their arms, then fall backwards into the hands of the rest of their team. 

The Obstacle "Born Again", with "Islands" and "Giant Finger" in the background

After that, they move-on to an obstacle called “Born Again,” where they will have to get the entire team from one side of a large tire (the bottom of the tire is 6’ off the ground) to the other. The team can only help others from the side of they tire that they are currently on.

The next obstacle is called “Islands.” There are 3-6'x 8'  cement platforms that are 7’ apart. The entire team starts out on the first platform and must get the entire team to the last platform using a single wooden beam that isn’t quite long enough to reach from one platform to the other. This obstacle takes a little thinking and a lot of strength to accomplish.

Moving on, the team reaches the next obstacle called “Giant Finger.” In this obstacle the team must stack on top of each other so that they can get a small tire up and down the 2 parallel pipes that are 10' tall. It’s a little harder than it looks since the tire must go through the bends that are in one side and on top of the pipes.

"The Low V" is 2-25' parallel cables 1' off the ground.
Balance and teamwork is what it takes to beat this obstacle 

Then each team member (two at a time) step on to the next obstacle... “The Low V.” In this challenge, two people stand on top of a 25' cable suspended 1’ off the ground. And, as  they move toward the opposite end of the cable (facing each other with hands clasped together for balance), they get farther and farther apart from each other as they try to reach the end.

"Jungle Gym" is a series of cement filled pipes that take strength and endurance to conquer. 

The next obstacle is called “Jungle Gym". In this obstacle each person sits on top of a cement filled pipe that's 3’ off the ground. As they slide up, the pipe gradually reaches a height of 9’. Then, when you reach the first turn, you have to flip to the underside of the pipe (holding on with your hands and legs) as you're upside down 11’ up in the air. And you continue along (upside down) the remainder of the pipe until you reach the end.

"Bridge Out" is a series of cement pillars and boards that cannot be beat without teamwork and balance.

After reaching the end of “Jungle Gym“ the team then steps up to the obstacle called “Bridge Out.”  This obstacle consists of 7 concrete piers that are 7’ apart and 18” above the ground. There are 3 boards that span between the piers. The team must all walk (balancing along the way) from one end of each board to the other. When they reach the end of the third board, the last person in the line picks up the board and they pass it to the front of the line so that they can go to the next pier. This continues until the entire team makes it to the 7th and final pier.

"The Pelican" as it was being put in place with a series of ropes and pulleys.
This massive piece of steel (that we designed and had manufactured for our course)
was the most difficult of all the obstacles to set-up since no machines could be used.

Next, the entire team must swing from one 8'x 8' concrete platform to another using a rope that's attached to a steel arm 15’ in the air. The difficulty lies in the fact that the arm swivels and each person gains speed as the get closer to the 2nd platform. If a player over-swings the platform, touches the ground or comes in too fast (knocking other team mates off the platform), everyone must start over on the first platform.

The 14' Climbing Wall has hand holds that are rated medium-difficult
and takes strength and coordination to reach the top.

The Climbing Rope may look easy from the ground but when you're 14'
up in the air (looking down) it takes a leap of faith to go over the edge.

Then the team must get every member up a 14' climbing wall and over the top to the cement platform suspended high above the course. Once everyone reaches the upper platform, the entire team must repel down a smooth wall (using the climbing rope) to the ground.

The team must then run over and then all jump up onto the small 2'x 2' concrete platform 4' off the ground called "All Aboard" and hold on by any means possible (without touching the ground) for 30 seconds.

The platform for the "Tightrope Walk" is high above the jungle floor. Team members have
to master their fears as they walk to another platform 75' away balancing on the small cable.

The finish line is reached as each team member holds on and rides the zip line
across the small pond that also known as "The Snake Pit."

Nearing the end of the course,everyone must then push their fear aside as they climb up a ladder to a platform (built up in the trees) and walk across the cable that's suspended 10' above the jungle floor. Balancing along the way, they must walk the entire distance (about 75') to another platform. Then, climbing down, they ride the zip line across the pond that border's the obstacle course to the end.

Go... Make... Baptize... Teach

No matter who you, are or what your calling is, it’s the same for all of us as followers of Christ. It doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor or a lawyer, a secretary, a landscaper, a cashier, or a student. It doesn’t matter if you flip burgers, crunch numbers, pump gas, fix pipes, wait on customers, paint walls, teach, lead worship, lay carpet, or even if you’re unemployed. If you’re a follower of Christ it’s the one and ONLY task that we’ve been given until Jesus returns:

GO and MAKE disciples of all nations, BAPTIZE them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, TEACH them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.  

                                                                                              Matthew 28:19-20

Go. Make. Baptize. Teach. That’s what we’re all suppose to be doing. Not just “the pastors” or “people at the church” either. No matter what our vocation is, if we’re followers of Christ, it’s our responsibility. Actually, as a follower of Christ, that’s our one and only responsibility and our sole mission. Making disciples, period. 

But it’s so easy to lose sight of that. Even for those of us who are pastors, church planters, missionaries, evangelists, etc. Even we can get sidetracked. We can focus more on the programming, the technical side of our services, the amount of people in attendance, the music... all of which are important, but are we making disciples in the process of going through “the process?” Is there anyone that we’re producing who’s reproducing someone else that reproducing someone else, that’s... you get the idea. Is there? Can you look at your ministry (or vocation) and see the process and that it’s working? A process where you’re actually making disciples? Or are you just having church services, or meetings or rally’s or just working at your job or whatever else it is that your doing? Only you can answer the question.

And the thing about making disciples is that it’s always about the individual rather than the masses and I'll tell you why I believe that. 

If we look at the life of Jesus (who was the greatest teacher, disciple-maker, leader, pastor ever) we can see that even He didn’t disciple the masses. Sure, He spoke and ministered to large numbers of people (the masses), but He only discipled a small handful of people. So as we’re in the process of making disciples, why do we always focus on the masses rather than the small group of people God’s placed in our lives or even the individual? Why do we measure our success by how many people we’re reaching each week rather than how effectively we’re discipling the small group of people that God’s placed in our daily lives? It’s definitely something to think about.

Anyway, here in Brazil, we’re constantly checking ourselves and making sure that we’re staying “on mission” and making disciples. Because even here in the jungles of Brazil we’re tempted to lose focus. We’re tempted to focus more on the programming of our services rather than how effectively we’re discipling. So we’re constantly analyzing and re-adjusting what we do.

One if the things we’ve changed is our Thursday Night Meetings. At the beginning of the year we totally re-vamped the services so that we made sure that we were discipling and not just entertaining. And the response has been great. We also (a few weeks ago) added small groups to the Thursday night mix. This is so that we can create dialogue between the students and the leaders on a deeper level and in a way that’s more age/gender specific and the kids love it.

How’s your disciple making process going? Are you constantly looking for ways to improve? Or are you just doing the same old thing or worse yet... are you doing nothing? 

Thank’s to everyone who makes it possible for us to be here in Brazil, doing what we do... making disciples: )

Passionately Following Jesus,

Jim

PS- The pics up top are of some of our new small groups, some shots of our Thursday night services and some of the people we're discipling on a weekly basis.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Go ahead, sing it. “Back to Life, Back to Reality.” Now that you’ll probably have that song stuck in your head for the next few hours... haha! (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, back in 89’ a British group named Soul II Soul released a song with that title. It’s been either sampled or covered by everyone from George Michael to En Vogue to Fat Joe... very catchy beat. Google it then you’ll see what I’m talking about) 

Anyway, it’s Back to Life, Back to Reality for us here in Brazil now that our oldest son (Michael) has been gone for a few days. Now we’re trying to get back into the groove of “normal” ministry. Having him visit us was such a HUGE boost to the family. We really miss him and being here without him is very difficult. Not being able to be a part of his life as he’s dating, and going to college and doing the military thing (he actually just got promoted to E-5, that’s Sergeant for all you civilian folk) is very hard on us. Why does it have to be this way? Why can’t we be near our son? Why can’t we be a part of his life? Why can’t we even be in the same country as our firstborn? Those are questions that we ask God all the time. Out of all the sacrifices that we’ve made to be here and to do what God’s called us to do, being here without him is definitely the hardest. But as followers of Christ that’s probably gonna be the case at some level, right? Or at least it should be. 

When I read through the New Testament, the people who were actually following Jesus and doing what He called them to do, were pretty much always having to make sacrifices and do stuff that wasn’t comfortable and stuff that they probably didn’t really want to do (if it was left up to them). 

Actually, if you want to get technical, doing what He wants and not what we want is one of the telltale signs of someone is truly a legit christian anyway, right? Jesus told people to follow Him 18 times in the Gospels. He didn’t say, pray this prayer so that you can escape Hell and then just live your life any way you want and I’ll be there for you. No. He said follow Him. And as they followed Him, they were involved in His activity. Not the other way around. 

To “follow Him” doesn’t mean that He’s gonna “follow us” around and do what we want Him to do all the time (like some kind of genie in a bottle) either. He told people that they needed to count the cost before they decided to follow Him (Luke 14:25-33). He also said that if “anyone” wanted to follow Him, the first thing they needed to do was deny themselves, then pick-up their cross (i.e., their assignment from God) , then follow Him (Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23). 

So in light of all that, what we’ve done (the Dunn family) isn’t anything heroic, super christian-ish or even anything to be admired... it’s what “the norm” for a christian’s life should be. Nothing more, nothing less. Now that doesn’t mean that every christian needs to sell everything and move to a foreign country. And it doesn’t mean that every christian needs to adopt an orphan (or 5, haha!). It doesn’t even mean that every christian needs to change vocations and go into full-time ministry. What it does mean, is that if God asks you to do something... you do it! Even if it’s hard and something you’re really not diggin’ too much. Because your life isn’t your own anymore. it’s His. And if you think that you can be a christian any other way than giving your entire life to Him, you really need to check yourself (and your theology)... because there’s a strong possibility that you may have never become one (a christian) to begin with.

Does living for Him mean our entire life is hard, full of sacrifice and difficulty? No. But sometimes it is. The thing is, that we need to be willing and obedient no matter what the price or what the task is that he asks us to do.

But one of the cool things (and it’s something we cling to when we feel depressed because of where we’re at) is that Jesus promised us that “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life (Mark 29:30). That’s what we hold on to. That and the fact that Jesus is totally worth any sacrifice that we could possibly ever have to make.

Passionately Following Jesus,

Jim and MJ

PS - The pics up top are of Michael right before we took him to the airport. All the other kids were in school and our car only holds 5 people legally (that's why they're not in the photos too). And as soon as I saw what I looked like in a beard (in the picture) I went and immediately shaved it off... what was I even thinking?!

I Can’t Wait to Get There!

When we were in the US (right before we moved here to Brazil) I remember saying, “man, I can’t wait to get to Brazil so that I can spend more time with God, spend more time with my family and actually take a deep breathe every once in a while.” That’s what I said and that’s what I was believing was magically going to happen as soon as we stepped foot on Brazilian soil. I mean, everything is soooo laid back in Brazil. They don’t have the hectic pace that we have in the US, they don’t have all the distractions that we have in the US, there’s no “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality, and the list could go on and on. 

We had been on the pastoral staff at a thriving church in Atlanta for almost 10 years and we were constantly on the go. There was always something going on at the church and 9 times out of 10 Me and MJ were there organizing and running the event. And if we weren’t there running the event, then we were there to support the people who were. We loved what we did but there was never enough time for family and even though we found time to spend with God we always wanted more. So moving to a culture that was more relaxed seemed like it was going to be a great change of pace for our family. 

Well, we’ve been here for over 11 months now and guess what? Different country- same situation! And you know why? Because WE are here. Not spending enough time with God, not spending enough time with family and not relaxing enough is a product of us, not the culture we live in. Sure, there are times and seasons in everyone’s lives where things are super busy but most of the time that’s just an excuse to keep doing exactly what we want to do.

There’s something I heard a long time ago that’s always stuck with me. I can’t remember who said it... but they said, “you ALWAYS find the time for the things that are the most important to you.” So if I REALLY wanted to spend more time with God, or more time with my family, or more time just relaxing, or more time exercising (never actually said that one, it just sounded good)... I just need to do it and quit thinking that it’s gonna change any other way than- “just doing it!” And there’s always stuff in our lives that we can eliminate to make time for what we want to do if we really want to. And we don’t have to start at the beginning of the month, or the beginning of the week or at the beginning of the New Year. The time to start is right now, today. 

And, more than all the ‘natural’ or ‘physical’ things we want to change in our lives, when it comes to the things of God, we’ve got to do it now. People’s lives are depending on it. Is there anything that you’ve been saying that you wanted to change or start doing but keep waiting for “just the right time?” Is there something that God has asked you to do but you’re waiting for everything to supernaturally line-up perfectly before you actually do it? Well guess what? It never will and you never will if that’s the case. It’s gonna take a step of faith and the determination to follow through in His strength. So, what are you waiting for? because it’s time.

Have a Great Weekend!

Jim

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

OK. Let me just go ahead and tell you that today’s blog is totally random and that there’s no deep theological thoughts or anything useful, actually. But I am asking a question (that I know causes a lot of you to lay in your beds at night wide awake) because you REALLY need to know the answer to it. So, here ya go... why did the chicken cross the road? That’s right, “why did the chicken cross the road?” Have you ever said that? Not as some kind of philosophical question that you were posing or as part of some lame joke either. I mean, have you ever been driving down the road and actually uttered the words, “why did that chicken cross the road” because a chicken literally just crossed the road right in front of you!? It happens to me here, every time I drive down the mountain. 

Every time I go down the mountain at least 3-4 chickens will run out in front of my car (crossing the road) as I’m driving by. Everyone (except us) owns chickens here and they all just run loose. So as you're driving down the narrow dirt road you see chickens out in everyone's front yards and grazing (I know that’s not the correct term, sorry I’m from the city) along the sides of the road. But the question is, “why do they insist on darting across the road as I’m trying to drive by?” Why not just wait until I pass by, then go to the other side? Do they have a death wish or something? Or maybe they’re just stupid? Does anyone have the answer? If so, I’d really like to know.

Speaking of running across the road, I use to have this philosophy about animals running out in front of my car. I think it started after I saw that Geico commercial where the 2 squirrels (or 2 deer, I can’t remember) ran out in front of a family driving down the road in their car. And, as the driver swerved to miss the animal, it caused the car to have an accident. Then the squirrels ran behind a tree and were high five-ing each other and laughing because they had made the humans crash. Do you remember that commercial? Well as stupid as this may sound, after viewing the commercial somehow it made perfect sense to me and I totally believed that this could really be true (not the high five part, but the fact that they really are trying to make me have an accident). Why else would an animal wait until “right when I was driving by” to try and cross the street by darting out in front of me? It had to be true (the commercial). So from that point on, when animals ran out in front of me, rather than trying to swerve to miss them, I would actually try to hit them. That’s right, you heard me right, I would try to hit them. And it worked perfect. They would run out, and I would usually accelerate (rather than slam my brakes on because that’s what they wanted) and aim right for them. And swerving? I wouldn’t even consider swerving to avoid them, no way. I did this for years and I never hit anything. It was amazing. I was usually alone when I did it, but a few times some of the kids were with me and I’d have to explain my theory to them. And of course they understood that Dad was a genius (or retarded, one or the other) and never questioned me on it.

We lived in a neighborhood where almost every time I was leaving (or coming home and it was still daylight) a squirrel would run out in front of me. It was uncanny. It happened almost EVERY time. There was no other explanation other than they were doing it to try to make me have an accident by running out in front of me. It was crazy.

My philosophy of trying to hit them worked great for years. That is, until one night, when MJ and I were going out on a date. We were leaving the neighborhood, and a little squirrel ran out in front of us. So, without even thinking, I accelerated and yep, you guessed it... bump-bump. I got it with both my front and rear wheels. It was like I had run over a tiny little speed bump or something. And as it happened I knew I had totally blown it. You see, MJ is a HUGE animal lover. And in an instant I knew that this one small mistake on my part had not only ruined any chance of having a great night out with my wife, but it would also give her ammunition against me (the fact of me being an idiot, that is) for years to come. I tried to tell her that I thought that I missed it but she wasn’t buying it. I actually looked in the rear view mirror (hoping that I wouldn’t see it) but it was there. My only hope was that somebody would scrape it off the road before we had to pass by it later-on or I was gonna have to do a lot more apologizing (all over again) as we passed by it’s tiny little flattened corpse on the way home.

This was such a stupid thing for me to do. So I’m just passing the info on to all my “guy friends” so that I can save you from making the same mistake that I made. Don’t believe everything you see on the Geico commercials... they aren’t true. Trust me on this one.

Still Learning From My Mistakes,

Jim

PS- The pictures of the chickens up top are actual pictures we took today. We had to go and pick up gasoline in town and snapped these shots just so that you could see that I wasn't over-exhaggerating. And our oldest son, Michael, is visiting us here in Brazil for a couple of weeks (that's him on the far left). We went and had lunch in Curitiba with my brazilian "brother from another mother"- Victor, and his amazing family yesterday. And of course the other guy standing beside me is our son Matthew (otherwise, known as "the golden child").

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Do you remember being in school and someone would yell out, “fight, fight, fight” to announce a fight that just broke out?  And immediately everyone would run over to watch. Then, some people would yell out things to provoke the fight to keep it going and some people would “cheer on” the person they wanted to win... you remember that, right? It happened 30 years ago when I was in high school (yep 30 years... man, that makes me feel old!) and it’s still the same today. Matthew brought home a video on his phone of a fight that happened  at the high school. (I wanted to post it with this blog but Matthew couldn’t send it to me for some reason, but that’s probably a good thing.) He didn’t shoot the video, someone else did and then they sent it to him (him and every other person on their contact list). Gotta love technology: )

And the thing that made this fight more exciting is that it was a “girl fight.” And girl fights are usually the most exciting. There’s no trash talking, no peacock-ing, no beatin‘ round the bush... just straight-to-the-point fighting. There’s not just punching either. There’s usually slapping, hair-pulling, scratching, no-holds-barred-anything-goes fighting. Now, there’s not much form or technique involved, but it’s exciting none-the-less.

This was one of those fights. But the thing that stood out to me the most, was how everyone just stood around and watched. After about a minute or so, a teacher flew in and tried to break it up. I say "tried" because either he was afraid of getting hit or he really didn’t want to stop it because he didn’t seem committed when he tried to pull them apart. Let’s just say it took a little longer than it should’ve to separate them.

Anyway, back to all the people watching. The thing that stood out the most to me is how everyone just stood there watching. It’s like they wanted to do something but all they did was “watch.” Everybody was a spectator.

And I believe that God puts us in the same position when it comes to our lives. He allows us to get into these “fights” so that a crowd is drawn and so that people will see us when we’re in the heat of battle. Now, our fights aren’t against people. Ephesians 6 tells us that, right? And our fights come in so many different forms. They can be persecutions, afflictions, temptations, trials... all kinds of stuff. And, when we’re in the fight, you can guarantee somebody’s watching. They are, trust me. 

And I believe that God allows us to be in these situations so that our faith in Him will be the thing that shines through to everyone watching us. Anyone can ‘say’ they’re followers of Christ when everything is great and life is good. But when your in a ‘fight’ and you’re struggling to make it and you keep trusting Him in spite of your circumstances, that’s when God is glorified through our lives.

And depending on how you interpret Hebrews 12:1, there’s a whole bunch of Old Testament saint’s cheering us on from the grandstands as well! So, no matter what you’re fighting right now, don’t quit and don’t give up... keep on fighting: )

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                I Timothy 6:12

Fighting the Good Fight,

Jim and MJ

PS- the picture up top is of Matthew and Maryssa when they were going to a "redneck festival" that a church in Curitiba (that we serve with) was having to try and reach their community. Everyone dressed-up in their best cowboy attire and had a great time.

Look, He’s Naked!

OK. This is another blog about nudity in the public school system. Sorry, but I just don’t get it. If you didn’t read the other blogs on this subject, click HERE and HERE. Anyway, Robert (our 6 year old) came home the other day and said, “look Mom... there’s another naked picture of a boy in my book.” So, we checked it out and upon reviewing the book in question... yep! He was right. You can see the picture below.

 Am I a prude because this aggravates me? Because the question in my mind is “why is it necessary to show the little uncircumcised boy totally naked to a bunch of kindergarteners?” From what I can figure out, they were trying to teach the kids about washing their hair and good hygiene which, if you have little kids, is a great idea. But why not just show him from the waist up? Or what about sitting in a tub where we didn’t have to see his little wiener? These are kindergarteners and there’s girls in the class too. So am I over-reacting like some freakoid father that’s totally out of touch with reality? Just curious. Sorry for ranting, but I just don’t get it.

Which reminds me... the other day MJ and I drove down to Terra Boa (our village) to get gas and to pick-up some construction supplies. We got the gas first and then, when we were on our way to the construction store, I had to pull over because the gasoline container had tipped over in the back of the car (the lid was on tight, so not the end of the world). As I was leaning into the back of the car (standing the container up) MJ said, “whatever you do don’t look over to your right.” Which caused me to.... drumroll please.... look over to my right. And as I did, there he was... a guy with his pants down just looking at us and smiling. Awesome. This was straight-up out of the twilight zone, for sure. As I got back into the car (laughing and weirded out, all at the same time), MJ told me the whole story. She said that the guy was just standing there smiling at her. And right when she was about to wave at him and say hello, she noticed that his pants were down below his hips and that his entire “crotch area” was totally exposed! So she quickly looked away and told me not to look. Which I wish I would’ve heeded her advice, because now I’ve got that image burned into my brain. Not good. (FYI- telling someone not to look is just like saying “quick, look!” Thanks MJ.) 

Back to the guy. He’s about 20 or so years old and has some type of disability (besides the ability to keep his pants on, lol!). We’ve seen him wandering around before and always thought that he could possibly be demon possessed. We’ve never been that close to him and now that we have... I’d have to say that he is. I’m not saying that everyone with a mental problem is demon possessed (if that’s the case then half my family is demon possessed, haha) but there’s some situations where you just know that there’s something spiritual going on. And this is one of those times. He’s usually just standing on the outside of this one particular house pacing and talking to himself. No matter what time of day it is, he’s always out there by himself just pacing and talking. He’s always very dirty and his hands are kind of contorted. I guess you could say that he’s kind of a fixture in the village too. Everyone knows who he is and that he’s got some issues.

I was just reading this morning in Mark 6, where Jesus sent out His disciples preaching  repentance, they anointed the sick with oil and people were healed, and it says “they cast out many demons.” Now, unless all the demons died of old age (which obviously I’m only being sarcastic) then they’re still doing the same thing today that they’ve always been doing (trying to destroy humans... who are suppose to be the image bearers of God).  So that means we need to be ready and available to cast out demons too (if that’s how the Spirit leads us), right? Now I probably just lost about half of my baptist friends and all my friends who believe in cessationism, sorry. But, how awesome would it be to see this man healed and set free from whatever it is that has him bound-up and for God to get all the glory for it? Hopefully we can be involved with that happening. We’ll just have to see: )

Back to the naked cartoon picture that I was ranting about earlier... what do you think? Is that normal to see that in a kindergarteners book? Seriously, I’d like to know what you think. And I won’t be offended if you tell me that I’m overreacting. 

 Love Ya,

Jim