God is good

Essa foto é de ontem (12/10). E bom, sempre que paro e penso no céu, lembro-me que "os céus proclamam a glória de Deus, e o firmamento anuncia as obras das suas mãos." (Salmos 19:1)

Depois de uma imagem dessas, preciso de mais motivos pra adorar o Criador?

A thank-you prayer

July came so fast and suddenly it is already August. I wished July was longer, though. I miss being somewhere far from here and yet, knowing I was never alone. I guess that's the feeling I had all this past month. Although I spent a month away from Brazil with people I had never seen before in my life, I just knew I wasn't alone.

Well, let's start from the beginning then. I was invited to be a summer missionary in Tennessee and I honestly didn't even know this kind of stuff could happen. Without much hesitation, though, I accepted the challenge. A regular missionary would normally spend 8 weeks doing missions. Unfortunately, I didn't have two months to do that, so I just went for the month of July.

So I went to Tennessee to work for the Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (aka SMRM) with no real expectations. I honestly didn't know what I was going to deal with.
I got to learn, later on, that SMRM is a ministry which does lots of missions with the international students who come to work there for a work and travel experience (like I had done in the past), does LOTS of daycamps for the kids at some campgrounds and provides worship service at these same campgrounds. It also does other stuff, like helping at the Craftsmen's Fair and working in the 4th of July Parade. Basically, there were 10 of us doing all kinds of stuff.

Now imagine yourself living with lots of people you don't even know. (Actually, it was like living with 15 people - there were also some other summer missionaries sharing the dorm with us, but they were ACMNP [A Christian Ministry in the National Parks] - they weren't exactly doing the same things as we were.) It's not easy. Not easy at all. However, I was able to see that God had blessed me with great people I'd get acquainted with and from whom I would learn a lot. Having to live with so many people was definetely challenging, though that's when I saw how wonderful God was for allowing me to meet each and every one of them, and oh gosh, I am definetely gonna miss all the great fun and even all the tears we cried together.

So back to missions. Well, as I had written to Cassi (my prayer partner prior to going to Tennessee), doing missions in my second language was my greatest fear. And I have to say, it did feel funny and unnatural the first time I actually preached. But I felt great doing that. And I know God was the one who gave me the strength and even the courage to do all the preaching, all the talking and well, basically, everything.

I guess I just want this post to be some kind of a prayer to God. Just a thank-you prayer for giving me the opportunity to serve Him with SMRM this summer and being able to experience great moments there.

Livre

Exato. Sinto-me livre. Não que eu esteja livre do meu chefe, do meu emprego, faculdade ou professores. Não é dessa liberdade que estou falando.

Livre. Sinto-me livre das coisas que antes me prendiam. Sinto-me livre de tabus e repressões. Sinto-me livre de dos and don'ts . Sinto-me livre da imundice do mundo. Não. Impossível viver assim. Em Cristo sou livre.

Impressionante como às vezes conhecemos uma música há eras, mas só em um determinado dia ela faz sentido. É o que aconteceu comigo em Free, do Hillsong.

Happiness is overrated

I heard today that three percent of the world’s population are naturally happy. Money or good health apparently have nothing to do with it. Just gobs and gobs of serotonin jumping from neuron to neuron, I imagine. For the rest of us, happiness is a whatchamacallit? - oh yeah, a choice. And for everything else, of course, there’s always mastercard.

Yes, a choice. It is normally said that how people around you behave is somehow connected to your well-being. Is it? I, myself, used to believe so but not anymore. This might seem theologically incorrect to some - and I definetely do not want to sound like a self-help author either - however, you do have the power to choose between feeling good about your life or not.

His glory, not mine

Let's just say my life's been pretty much like a mess lately. College, work (both of them), friends, they are all okay. Nothing to complain about them, no.
Nevertheless, I have been felling... ungrateful.
I was listening to Casting Crowns and one of their songs got me thinking for a little while. It goes:

The Voice of truth tells me a different story
The Voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

The thing is I cannot help being scared of what the near future is going to present me with.

Hora de mudar

Sim, eu falo, falo, falo que preciso me acostumar a postar aqui mas eu nunca o faço.


Enfim, sábado ouvi uma pregação sobre santidade e senti que a mensagem foi como um baque pra mim. Preciso acordar, não sou mais criança pequena pra brincar de ir à igreja e ser cristã. Quero minha vida junto à Deus. Necessito disso. Quero entender Sua grandiosidade e bondade.

A música do post anterior continua sendo a minha 'trilha sonora'. Mas muito mais que isso, peço à Deus para que agora ela se torne minha realidade.

Enfim, de férias

Pensei melhor e apaguei o post anterior. Acho que, no fundo, eu já sabia que ia deletá-lo mais cedo ou mais tarde.


Sim, férias. Como eu ansiei por esse dia. Tanto sono atrasado que poderei recuperar. Tantas pessoas que poderei ver. Tantas coisas que poderei fazer. E, mais uma vez, sei que no final vou ver que não fiz quase nenhuma. Digo 'quase' nenhuma porque recuperar o sono atrasado já não é mais uma questão de vontade, e sim necessidade.


Enfim, contar das minhas férias não é o motivo deste post. Só queria deixar uma música aqui. Não sei se a letra está totalmente certa porque ela está escrita de ouvido.

É tão bom estar aqui
De joelhos a orar
Nada esconder de Ti
Confessar, chorar, louvar
E aprender em oração quem Tu és e quem eu sou
Minha frágil condição
Teu imenso amor
Quero deixar tudo que é vão
E guardar o que é eterno
E ouvir de Ti que escolhi a parte melhor
Quero ser uma canção de louvor ao Senhor
Arte feita a mão, dedo do Criador
Profunda amizade com meu Pai, meu Deus
Essa é a minha oração

Just a little upload

I'm having my exams at college these days (so far so good, thanks for asking! :P) and the last one will be this coming Friday. After that, I'll finally be on vacation!!! =D
It's not that I don't like to go to college or anything, I just really do need to rest. And not having to wake up at 5h30 in the morning definetely pleases me!
By the way, speaking of liking or not to go to Ibero, I must say... this current semester has been the best one so far. Not only is it because of the subjects but mainly because of people I got acquainted with.


Anyways, these days have been quite weird to me. I mean, some things sort of seem that are just not right. This is specially true when considering work. Yet, I feel really really great. Go figure!

Still deadish

Ok, so I promised I would write as soon as I could. Yeah, that was a lie. The truth is that I have to commit to posting here. I always forget to do that.

So, now I am 19. I am not feeling old or anything, however, I constantly feel that I should be taking more advantage of life itself. There are lots of places to be visited, thousands of people to be met and dozens of languages to be learnt. And here I am: stuck in São Paulo. I am not saying I do not like São Paulo or even Brazil. I do. Nevertheless, I just do not belong here.

I am a dreamer. I want to take on the world.
Well, perhaps someday.

Deadish

I am just here to say I am not dead, though not very much alive either.

Anyways, my birthday is coming! YAY! I promise I will write about it ASAP. :)

I get so clumsy

Not only does Jason Castro have a great voice, but he also somehow brings me peace. So, here he is performing Chris Rice's Clumsy.



(Thank you, Colm, for helping me 'embed' the video! I do appreciate it!)

=)

Minha oração

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
(Psalm 51:10)



Cria em mim, ó Deus, um coração puro, e renova dentro em mim um espírito inabalável.
(Salmos 51:10)

Learning how to be ordinary

Have you ever gotten tired of working?
Good. So now it is my turn.

An endless-like conflict

Different from what most people feel, Fridays evenings are always kind of depressing for me. Maybe it's because another week has passed by. Maybe it's because since I started working on Saturdays, I've been avoiding going out on Fridays. Maybe it's both.

I don't know, perhaps I'm just getting old and that is part of life. However, sometimes I look at my life and think whether I've been enjoying it as I ought to or not. Ever since I started working, I get myself sparing thoughts about this matter. I don't hang out as much as I should. I don't date as much as I should. I don't make friends as much as I should. I don't even try to keep the ones I have as much as I should.

The truth is that I have to make a decision. I cannot go on living like this. I just can't. It seems everything is going wrong.
On the other hand, how is it possible for a person to study, be professionally succesful and enjoy life at the same time?


It all seems confusing.

Good news, bad news

Well, at least now I am CAE certified.

But the problem is: how am I ever going to be ready to take that bloody CPE exam?


Sometimes I fear I just don't know anything.

Tempo de avaliar; momento de crescer

Acampamento de carnaval é sempre a mesma coisa. A gente espera ansiosamente por ele, dorme pouco, se cansa absurdamente e faz muitas promessas a Deus. Não tem como evitar esse 'contato' mais forte com Deus já que estamos cercados por gente com a mesma fé que a nossa e ouvindo constantemente sobre o amor dEle (diferentemente do que acontece no nosso dia a dia).

Mas vamos falar sobre as promessas que fazemos. Não só as que fazemos em época de acampamentos, como também nos finais de ano, com a esperança de um ano melhor. E hoje, dois dias de volta do acampamento e mais de um mês depois da virada de ano, pergunto-me: quanto tempo demorará para nos darmos conta de que, a longo prazo, não cumprimos nenhuma?

Pensei nisso nesta terça que se passou (05/02). Durante o último culto, o grupo de louvor tocou uma música feita um tempo atrás por um dos jovens da minha igreja.
Um pedaço do refrão é:

Unidos na missão de como igreja crescermos em amor
Unidos na missão de sermos reconhecidos pelo amor

Lembro-me que 3 anos atrás, em um acampamento também, essa música foi muito importante para minha vida. OK, 3 carnavais se passaram e... nada.

A lesson from a little girl

I have just read an article entitled Food warnings amid China freeze.

The world's weather is changing by leaps and bounds, and that is really noticeable here where I live. It is January, for Christ's sake, and the temperature is down low in São Paulo. We should be resting on our beautiful Brazilian coast, swimming in our seas, or even in a pool. Yet, we are here facing the winds of a July-like cold weather and having to wear winter coats.

I will not lie. I am scared to death of what the world is going to be. The population always puts the whole blame on the governments. But let us think for a while. Who, in the first place, voted them for power? Who are the ones who daily destroy the environment? Who are the ones who waste water while taking a shower or even brushing our teeth? The answer is pretty obvious: not only are they to be blamed, but we as well.

There is a very famous video of a Canadian girl named Severn Suzuki who taught the world a big lesson in Rio de Janeiro, during the conferences of ECO 92. Here it is, it is worth taking a look once again:

http://xpock.com.br/2007/06/12/severn-suzuki-discursando-na-eco-92-veja-o-video-completo-vale-a-pena


It is a shame,though, that little has changed in 16 years.

Mere Christianity

I am tired of ordinary Christians. Sick of them. Their self-centeredness gets on my nerves. Today I was taking a look at Westboro Baptist Church and I got really upset when I read that "The small church runs numerous websites such as GodHatesFags.com,[1] GodHatesAmerica.com and others expressing condemnation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT), Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews, as well as populations it believes are supporting the forementioned groups, including Swedes, Canadians, Irish, British, and Americans." When a non-Christian reads a text like this one, or like this one, he or she will certainly think that Christians are totally narrow-minded. No one could ever blame them.

However, the Bible itself shows us that God is not a people hater whatsoever.
In Ephesians 4:32 it is written: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

God, unlike some would say, is not a hater. He is a God of love and compassion.
Thus, when I say I am sick of them, I mean it. It is sad for me to see how people have misinterpreted the Bible and God himself. Being a Christian is way more than taking care of other people's lives. It is way more than seeing the devil in every kind of situation. It is way more than all this kind of crap. Being a Christian is trying to understand God and His greatness. That is what a 'Mere Christianity' is all about.

Just for the record, I am indeed a Christian. I do not see myself as an ordinary one though.

Greetings

This is my first post here. I wish I could say what this blog will be about but I am not really sure yet. However, I would like to write about my personal feelings and beliefs, so I guess this is what you will find here from now on.

Once I had a blog but I was not used to posting or anything. Hope I can get used to doing it.

As regards the language I am writing, well, everything here is still undefined and so is the language. This post was in English, maybe the next one is in Portuguese, who knows.


That is it for today.
I will try to come back tomorrow.