I wanna be a rock star

 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32
Many teaching we get in these two verses. I will look in this: "If you hold to my teaching..."
To believe in Jesus is more than to  know about Him. It is more than to know what He is able to do. To trust in Him means  to abandon our beliefs, even when we "believe" they may be came from God.
Many times we were taught about God but few of us look at Bible carefully to know if we were taught right, we use to believe because we use to believe!
When Jesus calls us, He says come and trust in me like I'm, even (and I dare to say, frequently) this believe means to abandon our on view point about Him. How many time we use to question our on faith? We have our faith and we always think be right.
John 7:27 shows us people confused about if Jesus was or not The Messiah, and why? Because a common sense in the time, used to say that when The Messiah come, nobody would know where He would come from and Jesus, even showing great miracles, amazing teachings and uncountable signs, was knowing by everybody, His birth city, parents and family making Him not fulfill 'the common sense'.
what it means, Patricia, you can ask me?
It means, dearest reader,  if we day by day, do not seek God, and obey His word more than religion and common sense, we are going to lost the real Jesus, and what is more important, salvation! Some times, we see Jesus in people that we don't think be "someone of God" and this kind of thought block us to listen God. We use to listen and read "that preachers we like" and few time we dare to question them, we just listen! Jesus said: If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32. 
To hold His teaching many (many) times, will means be against common sense, religious traditions and culture.
We are near of a big american commemoration, Halloween. Some churches have bringing it into its temples cultivating witches, monsters and many kinds of bad stuff, just because 'it is our culture'. Brazil has many similar things, what people call folklore and I call blindness.
But, what matter is, that we have to be free and this freedom only come from obey Jesus and His word. To keep our salvation we have to stay living Matthew 5. Loving those who persecute us. Forgiving those who hurt us. Helping the needy.

I have  seen the church of 21 century. This is the most rich church of all time, and to our shame and sadness, the 21 century church is that has less impact and influence in the society. How is it possible? Maybe it is possible because people and leaders of this church, look for become similar to the world. Our clothes, life style, language, and habits in almost nothing differs of the world. We have the same desires, we have the same plans, we look for our own will, we look for be known by our greatness, our diploma in big universities. The 'dream' of big part of people that are called christian, is the same dream of those who aren't.
It is rare listen young from our churches say that to dream in become missionary, pastor our be known for forgive, love and live like Jesus. They want to be celebrity! If be pastor, they want be at TV, our to be a "gospel rock' star".  Resigns, altruism aren't words of our vocabulary!
Church, we have to wake up. We have to come back to Jesus life style. More of Him and less (too much less) of us.
To be a real christian, we need fast, turn away. We have to review our concepts before it guides us to too far that will be impossible to come back.
Come back church, come back!

Pati Nanni

Give Us This Day

Luke 11:8 (NET) - I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

The other day I found myself thinking about an old friend who passed away many years ago.

He and I were both part of a circle of friends who used to gather at a restaurant most evenings.

There, we would enjoy a cup of coffee or two, swap stories and simply enjoy the company of friends.

This particular friend was much older than I was.

In fact, he was originally my father’s friend.

My father died at a relatively young age and, as time passed, this old gentleman and I became quite good friends.

He had many interesting experiences in his lifetime and I always enjoyed the stories he shared with me.

One evening the group gathered together as was customary.

As we shared whatever happened to be on our minds, this particular friend finished his coffee before the rest of us.

He walked up to the counter to get a refill but the staff on duty that evening ignored his presence at the counter.

I could tell by the look on my friends face that he was growing agitated.

The next thing I knew, he walked out the door with his empty cup.

I assumed that my old friend was so upset at having been ignored that he decided to home.

What happened next surprised everyone.

Suddenly the bell that chimed when a car pulled up to the drive up window began to ring both loudly and repeatedly.

DING, DING, DING, DING. DING...

We all turned our heads because we never heard the bell chime more than twice for any given car.

Finally, one of the staff walked up to the drive up window and opened it.

The bell stopped chiming and I saw my friend’s arm barge through the open window holding the empty cup in his hand.

It was this old friend who repeatedly stomped on the hose that activated the bell in order to get some service.

The surprised employee took the cup from his hand, refilled it and handed it back to him.

I then saw my friend’s arm disappear into the night.

The rest of us could not help but laugh at our friend‘s creative solution.

A moment later, he walked back inside and sat down with us once more.

As I relived this memory of him, I could not help but laugh all over again.

This also brought to mind that particular verse from the book of Luke.

At times, one man responds to another’s request only when the man making the request becomes persistent.

My old friend was served when he persisted in ringing the bell thus forcing the restaurant staff into action.

When it comes to prayer, we can approach God boldly and He will respond favorably if our request is aligned with both His will and His timing.

He does this not out of obligation or our persistence.

He does this because of His genuine love for us.

In the Lord’s prayer we are instructed to request our daily bread which is a necessity,

I find it more than interesting that the persistent man requested  bread for another in the example Jesus gave to us.

Not only should we request that which is necessary for us, we should also request that which is necessary for others.

This is especially true when we pray for those who have not come to know Him for their need is the greatest of all.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Weathering the Storms

John 16:33 (NET) - I have told you these things so that in Me you will have peace. In the world you will have trouble and sufferings, but take courage - I have conquered the world.

In the summer, it is relatively easy to predict the weather where I live.

If I were asked to do so, I would forecast hot and dry and be correct the vast majority of the time.

I recall one summer day when the forecast called for hot with a slight chance of rain.

Even the professional forecasters all but dismissed that chance of rain.

Throughout the day and into the evening, it was indeed hot and not a single drop of rain fell.

That night, the slight chance of rain materialized in the form of a severe thunderstorm.

As it approached, I knew that we were in for quite a night because of the amount of thunder I heard in the distance.

When the storm arrived in full force, I was amazed by the amount of lightning it generated.

Continual flashes of lightning lit up my windows.

Several lightning bolts struck nearby.

Seated with my back to the wall, I could literally feel their shock waves as the concussions traveled through both the wall and my chair.

I could hear the wind as it drove the rain into my door and window panes.

As the winds continued to blow, hail began to fall.

Eventually, the storm passed.

The following day I saw some of the damage left by the storm.

Leaves littered the ground.

Broken tree branches were scattered about. Some fell in the streets.

Roofs were also damaged.

Yes, this was quite a storm.

The storm also brought one more thing.

Precious life giving rain.

A substantial amount had fallen and was quickly absorbed by the ground which the day before was extremely hard and dry.

In the days that followed, the grass, once brown and dry, softened and turned green once again.

It was given a new lease on life.

At times, the weather becomes turbulent.

At times, our very lives become turbulent.

Even believers experience times of turbulence and upheaval. 

Jesus was very clear about this in scripture.

That is why I have a problem with concept of only prosperity for believers.

According to some, becoming a believer will eliminate every problem and every challenge.

Experience, however, confirms both His words of caution and His promise.

In fact, some of the most faithful people I have ever known have endured challenges that would cause many without faith to become easily discouraged.

In some cases it was a health crisis. In others it was the sudden loss of a loved one. For others it was a problem in the workplace.

To speak candidly , believers face many challenges in a lifetime.

There are even times when they face several challenges at once.

The believer, however, knows that he does not face these storms alone.

The believer knows that there is no reason to fear and every reason to hope.

The believer knows that Jesus has conquered the world and will help them weather the storm whatever that storm may bring.

They rest assured knowing that they will be blessed in the process.

They may even be a vehicle of blessing for others as a result.

It is easy to thank God when things are going our way.

The faithful also thank God during the storms in life.

It is in the process of overcoming them that He refines us.

It is in facing them that our relationship with God is strengthened.

When the storms pass, and they will, the blessings that accompany them are truly appreciated.



Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com