This chapter is an oracle against Moab: “Ar in Moab is ruined and destroyed in a night… Kir in Moab is destroyed in a night… every head is shaved and every beard cut off… in the streets they wear sackcloth… my heart cries out over Moab… they lament their destruction… the waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass withered… nothing green is left… their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim… and Dimon’s waters are full of blood!”
Continue ReadingIsaiah 14 promises the restoration of post-Babylonic Israel: “Once again God will chose Israel and will settle them in their own land… and the house of Israel will possess the nations… and rule over their oppressors.” The chapter then features a mocking taunt-chant concerning the fall of the Babylonian king: “How the oppressor has come to an end… the grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming… all your pomp has been brought down to the grave… with maggots on top of you and worms beneath… you said you would make yourself like the most high but you are brought down to the depths of the pit… like a corpse trampled under foot… I will sweep Babylon with the broom of destruction.”
The chapter then closes with prophesies against Assyria and the Philistines: “I will crush the Assyrian in my land… his yoke will be taken from my people… do not rejoice all you Philistines… your root I will destroy by famine… melt away all you Philistines… the Lord has established Zion, and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”
Continue ReadingPeople who have stayed in our house will remember Linda who has always helped Liz with the cooking when we have visitors. Well today, aged 72, she is getting married to a brother in the Campina Grande area who is in his 80s. Both of them have recently lost their spouses so they have decided to take the plunge! Please pray for Linda and her new husband Hermes.
Yesterday we did our usual work bringing people into the Care Centre dentist and taking them home again.
I have just done Pilates! 🏃
Continue ReadingYesterday morning we held a church business meeting when lawyer Murilo was chosen to be a new assistant pastor and our daughter Sacha was chosen to be a missionary which is the term used for female ministers. Both decisions were unanimous for these two who have been ministering the word in the church for a long time. We also discussed increasing our Gospel tracts distribution and we organized the training of a new emergency committee for untoward eventualities. We also defined all the church ministries leaders for the coming year. It was a very good meeting.
On Saturday 15 young people from Patos went up the mountain to Teixeira for evangelism together with folk from our church there. 9 of them went in the Kombi. The day was a blessing.
Last night Pastor Rafael and I led the service and Sacha preached an excellent sermon on John 5:1-15. I dedicated a baby called Eloah. It was a really blessed service.
Continue ReadingI have been listening to Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony which was my set work for music GCE O level in 1965. My focus was on the sonata form of the first movement with its exposition, development and recapitulation. Those were the days at Quintin School in St. John’s Wood.
QPR sadly lost their last home game of the season to Derby 3 x 2. 😖
Last night I led the service of the Green Pastures Church and preached on John 7:37-38. It was a good service.
Continue ReadingI have been listening to Tchaikovsky’s 1st piano concerto whilst I did devotional and administrative work. The concerto reminds me of my tropical fish aquarium when I was a boy at Grammar School because I used to listen to it a lot whilst watching the fish. I also listened to Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
I went to Green Pastures and saw a beautiful large Rufescent Tiger-Heron near the dam. Around the house and dormitories we have scores of birds nesting like the White-throated Seedeater, Red-cowled Cardinal, Campo Troupial, Scaled Dove, Picui Ground Dove, Caatinga Cacholote, Rufous-bellied Thrush etc.
It rained a further 3 mm yesterday at Green Pastures taking this year’s rainfall total up to 626.6 mm. The average annual rainfall is 702 mm. I will be preaching at the Green Pastures church tonight.
Continue ReadingIsaiah 13 is an “oracle concerning Babylon” telling of God’s impending judgement on them in “the day of the Lord” because of their arrogant wickedness. He says: “Listen, a noise on the mountains… God is mustering an army for war… to destroy the whole country… wail, for the day of the Lord is near… terror will seize them… see the day of the Lord is coming – a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger… I will punish the world for its evil… whoever is captured will be thrust through… their infants will be dashed to pieces… their wives will be ravished… Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah… and she will never be inhabited but will be taken over by jackals, hyenas, owls and wild goats”.
Continue ReadingIsaiah 12 points to a future time when God’s people will joyfully trust in God after his “anger has turned away… surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid… with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation… give thanks to the Lord… proclaim that his name is exalted… sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things… shout aloud and sing for joy for great is the Holy One of Israel among you”.
Continue ReadingIsaiah 11 is a messianic prophecy about “a shoot that will come from the stump of Jesse… the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him… and he will delight in the fear of the Lord…. with righteousness he will judge the needy… and faithfulness will be the sash around his waist”. In the messianic kingdom predators and pray will live in harmony… “the wolf will live with the lamb… the leopard will lie with the goat… and a little child will lead them… for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord”. And “in that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner to reclaim the remnant and gather the exiles”. “There will be a highway of the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt”.
Continue ReadingI have been listening to Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto. Absolutely magnificent!
I have just prepared a sermon for this Saturday at Green Pastures on John 7:37 when Jesus said – ‘If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink’!
Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and Pastor Rafael gave the study on Zephaniah chapter 2. The worship was led by Rogério and Rogaciano. It was a nice service.
This morning it rained 9 mm at Green Pastures taking this year’s total up to 623.6 mm. It is unusual for it to rain in the morning here.
Continue ReadingI have done the first 10 chapters of Isaiah in my résumé of the Bible and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I went past familiar texts such as 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”. Then 6:8 “Who shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me!” Then 7:14 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel”. Then 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given… and he will be called Wonderful Counsellor… Prince of Peace”.
Liz went to the women’s fellowship meeting last night and enjoyed it.
Continue ReadingIsaias 10 proclaims God’s judgement on wayward leaders. “Woe to those who make unjust laws… who deprive the poor of their rights and rob orphans… making widows their prey”. God therefore uses Assyria as “the rod of his anger” to castigate Israel. “I send him against a godless nation. I dispatch him against a people who anger me… when the Lord has finished all his work against Zion he will punish the king of Assyria because of his pride thinking that he can do what he likes! Then the light of Israel will become a flame and God will keep a faithful remnant of his people… the survivors of the house of Jacob… a remnant will return… O my people do not be afraid of the Assyrians who beat you with a rod… the Lord will lash them with a whip… the yoke will be broken… see the Lord Almighty will lop off the boughs with great power… Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.”
Continue ReadingIsaiah 9 points to a messianic hope: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light… for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders… and of it there will be no end… he will reign on David’s throne”. This is followed by a message of judgement against the northern kingdom of Israel. “The Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail… the elders and prominent men are the head and the prophets who teach lies are the tail… everyone is ungodly and wicked… wickedness burns like a fire… by the wrath of God the earth will be scorched… no-one will spare his brother… each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring!”
Continue ReadingIsaiah 8 is a continuation of the Immanuel prophecy in chapter 7:14 and God is with his people during the Assyrian crisis. Isaiah directs Judah to fear him rather than the Syrian-Israel alliance because God told Isaiah that before his new-born son could say Dad and Mum Assyria will defeat Damascus and Samaria. Then God again told Isaiah that because the people of Judah had “rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah” (peaceful trust in God) they would face “the mighty flood waters of the River – the king of Assyria… and this water would flood them up to their necks!” Then God told Isaiah not to adhere to the conspiracy theories of the people but to fear him. Isaiah then seals up the prophecy among his disciples, and then concludes warning against “mediums and spiritists… why consult the dead on behalf of the living… and warning against those who do not speak according to this word”.
Continue ReadingIsaiah 7 describes God ready to back King Ahaz of Judah when faced with the threat of a Syro-Israel alliance between King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel. God sent Isaiah to go and meet Ahaz telling him to keep calm and not be afraid. God said that the Syro-Israel alliance would not be successful but Ahaz had to stand firm in his faith. God told Ahaz to seek a divine sign, but Ahaz refused. So Isaiah prophesied: “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son who will be named Immanuel. However Ahaz trusted in the aid of Assyria rather than God and for this reason Ahaz would suffer the humiliation of having his head and beard shaved by an Assyrian and the land of Judah will be covered by briers and thorns.
Continue ReadingIn the year that King Uzziah died (about 740 BC?) the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the holiness of God in which he heard God’s call on his life: “I saw the Lord seated on his throne high and exalted… and the accompanying angels cried Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty… and the temple was filled with smoke… and Isaiah cried out Woe to me… I am a man of unclean lips… but then one of the seraphs touched his lips with an altar coal and purified him… then God asked whom shall I send?… and Isaiah replied Here I am, send me!” God then warns that the people will not heed but that Isaiah should continue prophesying until the houses are deserted and nearly everyone has gone away”.
Continue ReadingNow there comes a parable where God prepares a vineyard representing Israel/Judah with clear links to the branch of the Lord in chapter 4 where righteousness should be its product. However it only produced bad fruit which angered God. Chapter 5 starts talking about the planting of the vineyard which only yielded bad fruit bringing it in line for God’s destruction: “I will break down its wall and it will be trampled… and stop the rain… the vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel… woe to you that add house to house… the great houses will become desolate… and they will go into exile… and their men of rank will die of hunger… both low and high will be humbled… the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice… woe to those who call evil good and good evil… woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine… the Lord’s anger burns against his people… he lifts up a banner for the distant nations… their arrows are sharp… they roar like lions… in that day they will roar over it”.
Continue ReadingInitially verse 1 of chapter 4 concludes what was said in chapter 3, continuing to show the breakdown in societal norms with 7 women per man. The shortage of men is probably due to war. Then Isaiah goes on to talk about “the Branch of the Lord” where branch or shoot is the newly created and sprouting Judah… and those left in Zion will be called holy… the Lord will cleanse the filth of Zion’s women… and God will place a cloud of smoke and a flaming fire over Zion.
Continue ReadingI have completed my résumé of the 22nd book of the Bible which is the Song of Songs. This means I have done 57% of the chapters of the Bible with this very romantic and affectionate book. Now I move on to Isaiah.
Liz and I had an important meeting with Pastor Umbirajara and his wife Conceição from João Pessoa discussing the work of the Lord. We have also had some long counselling sessions with different people.
QPR lost at home to Swansea yesterday 2 x 1. 😓I will comment on England, Scotland and Brazil in the World Cup in June/July. What about a Brazil x England final!?
Last night I led a street meeting in the town of São Mamede, Deacon Dedé led the worship and Pastor Rafael preached the Gospel from John 21. The couple whose house we were in front of, José and Maricô, sang a duet. It was a nice service.
It rained a further 5 mm at Green Pastures last night taking the annual total rainfall to 614.6 mm.
Continue ReadingThe concluding chapter starts with the bride wishing she was the king’s sister so that she could always kiss him, bring him in-doors, give him spiced wine to drink and embrace. She then says: “Place me like a seal over your heart… for love is as strong as death… it burns like blazing fire… many waters cannot quench love!” Some friends then discuss the protection of a younger sister prior to marriage. The Shulammite then remarks about how she brings contentment to her husband, and he replies that he likes to hear her voice, before she calls him to come away with her like a gazelle or young stag.
It should be noted that in the first place this book gives God’s blessing upon human love and romanticism. However Song of Songs can also have an allegoric interpretation of Christ’s love for his people/church.
Continue ReadingChapter 7 starts where the previous chapter left off with the kingly lover extolling his bride’s feet, legs, navel, waist, breasts, neck, eyes, nose, head and hair! Her legs are graceful, her navel is a rounded goblet and her breasts are like two fawns. How beautiful you are, he exclaims. Your breasts are like clusters of fruit, your breath has the fragrance of apples and your mouth is like the best wine. To this the Shulammite replies “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me”, and invites him to spend the night with her in the villages and “there I will give you my love… both old and new I have stored up for you, my lover.”
Continue ReadingI have concluded the writing of the résumé of the Book of Ecclesiastes and it started and finished saying that everything is meaningless like chasing the wind. Or as Bob Dylan sings, “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind”! This means I have concluded the first 21 books of the Bible which is 56% of its chapters. Now it’s on to the Song of Songs.
I took people home from the dentist’s at the Care Centre yesterday and saw 3 Burrowing Owls on the way.
At Green Pastures it rained 7 mm yesterday.
Continue ReadingChapter 6 starts with friends asking the Shulammite where her lover had gone? She answered that he had gone to care for his garden to gather lilies, but she assured them of the sureness of their relationship saying “I am my lover’s and my lover is mine”. The king returned saying “you are beautiful my darling and your eyes overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats and your teeth are like a flock of sheep. You are unique and better than 60 queens, 80 concubines and countless virgins. You are as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun and as majestic as the stars.”
Continue ReadingChapter 5 starts with the lover king going into his bride’s garden and eating honeycomb and drinking wine and milk! The bride then hears her love knocking on her door. His hair was damp from the night air and he asked whether he needed to put his robe back on? He put his hand through the latch opening and her heart pounded! When she finally opened the door for her lover he had gone. She couldn’t find him anywhere! Her lover, she said, is radiant and ruddy with black wavy hair. His eyes are like doves, his lips are like lilies, his arms are like rods of gold, his body like ivory, his legs like marble and his mouth is sweetness itself. He is altogether lovely!
Continue Reading“How beautiful you are, my darling”, exclaims the king. “Your eyes behind the veil are like doves… your hair is like a flock of goats… your teeth are like a flock of sheep… your lips are like a scarlet ribbon… your neck is like the tower of David… your breasts are like two fawns… you are totally beautiful without a flaw… come with me my bride because you have stolen my heart… how delightful is your love my bride and much more pleasing than wine… your lips are as sweet as honey my bride and milk and honey are under your tongue.. you are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water.” To this the Shunammite called upon the wind to come and spread the fragrance of her love saying “Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”
Continue ReadingChapter 3 is the Shunammite speaking non-stop as she looks for her king but can’t find him. “I will search for the one my heart loves”. She searched and eventually found him and so she held him and would not let him go. Then she again envisages the King coming from the desert perfumed with myrrh and incense and escorted by 60 warriors with a gold and silver carriage on a purple seat. He is wearing his crown and she calls on the daughters of Zion to come and see him.
Continue ReadingThe romantic dialogue continues with the Shunammite declaring that she is a rose of Sharon and a lily of the valleys, to which the king replies that his darling is a lily among thorns. She responds comparing him to an apple tree with sweet fruit, and that he has taken her to the banquet hall and his banner over me is love! Refresh me with apples, she sighs, because she is faint with love. They embrace. My lover, she says, is like a your stag who called to arise because the winter is past and the rains have gone. Flowers appear for the season of singing has come and the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. The King responds asking for his dove to show her lovely face from her hiding place in the clefts of the rock. She reacts saying her lover is hers and she is his until day break.
Continue ReadingThe Song of Songs involves a strong poetic loving and sensual dialogue between a young bride or Shulammite (6:13) and her lover King Solomon or a shepherd-king. The bride starts asking to be kissed because her lover’s love is better than wine. His name is like perfume, she says, and she asks him to hurry to take her way! She remarks how sun-tanned she is and she hopes to meet her lover grazing his sheep. The lover replies calling the Shulammite the most beautiful of women and his darling and he promises her ear-rings of gold. My love, she replies, is myrrh resting between her breasts. The king remarks on her beautiful eyes and she responds about how handsome he is and how verdant their bed is.
Continue ReadingSolomon begins the final chapter of Ecclesiastes saying the famous words: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come… before the sun, moon and stars grow dark… when the house keepers tremble… when the grinders cease…when the doors close… when men are afraid of heights… when the almond tree blossoms… and the grasshopper drags itself… then man goes to his eternal home.” “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” Thus the author concludes his writings saying that people should fear God and keep his commandments. Then finally everything will be judged by God.
Continue ReadingIn this chapter 11 Solomon starts talking about casting your bread upon the waters to eventually find it again. This is apparently a reference to investment without immediate returns and maybe (“give portions to seven, yes to eight”) of a charitable nature. Then the author warns against hesitation and procrastination awaiting ideal conditions which paralyze action. “Sow your seed in the morning” as you never know what will succeed. He then encourages the enjoyment of life despite its meaningless and especially encourages happiness in youth. “Follow the ways of your heart,” he says, although all will be judged of God and be meaningless.
Continue ReadingI led the service last night and young lawyer Murilo preached on Jeremiah 18: “You are the potter, I am the clay”. We also had a special focus on autism in the middle of the service with our daughter Sacha interviewing Eva Jeminne who is the mother of 7-year-old Ester who is autistic and lovely. It was a wonderful interview raising awareness and empathy for families with autism. So all in all it was a very good service.
Continue ReadingPlease pray for Sister Pergentina of our Teixeira church up in the mountains. She is the 90-year-old mother of the pastor’s wife there and she has circulation problems in a leg which may mean she has to have her leg amputated. She is in the Patos General Hospital.
The EAB musical concert last night at Cadnam Methodist Church went very well. Marian Rashleigh sent us live photos of the proceedings taken from the balcony which was very good. Philip tells us it was a very good concert.
A special evangelistic event was held yesterday for the teenagers who we still help and work with at our Patos school and 23 of them made commitments to Christ. Please pray that these teens might put down roots in the Lord and become part of the church as practicing Christians.
It rained 5 mm at Green Pastures last night, taking the total rainfall this year up to 602.6 mm, so past the 600 mark for the first time.
Continue ReadingEcclesiastes 10 gives a list of sayings emphasizing the good of wisdom and the negativity of folly. He starts with: as dead flies give perfume a bad smell so folly outweighs wisdom and honour… fools lack sense… I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves… if a snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer… words from a wise man are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips… the fool multiplies words… blessed are you, O land whose king is of noble birth… if a man is lazy the rafters sag… a feast is made for laughter and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything!
Continue ReadingNow the author re-states that all men share the common destiny of death – whether they be righteous of wicked, good or bad, or clean or unclean. The same destiny overtakes all. But whilst you’re alive you have hope because “even a live dog is better off than a dead lion”! The total absence of the concept of life after death brings Solomon to encourage eat, drink wine and be merry! He says: “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life. I have come to the conclusion, says Solomon, that “the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or wealth to the brilliant… but time and chance happen to them all”! No-one knows when his time will come. So Solomon’s confused words come to the close of the chapter saying wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man’s wisdom is despised…. but wisdom is better than weapons of war.
Continue ReadingThe author now advocates obedience and respect for the king (it doesn’t sound like King Solomon speaking!)… obedience to the king… not speaking out of turn… no-one has power over the day of his death… or power over the wind… no-one knows the future…I saw the wicked buried who used to receive praise in the city… when the sentence for a crime is delayed hearts of men scheme… I know it will go better with God-fearing men. He then goes on to say that something else meaningless is when righteous men get what the wicked deserve. I commend that we eat, drink and be merry as there is nothing better for us to do. It is simply not possible to understand the ways of God.
Continue ReadingEcclesiastes 7 starts saying that a good name is better than a good perfume, but the day of your death is better than the day you were born! It is better to mourn than to feast.. sorrow is better than laughter… for all is meaningless… patience is better than pride… don’t be quickly provoked in your spirit… don’t keep talking about the good old days… who can straighten what God has made crooked?… I have seen the righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness so don’t go to extremes of righteousness or wickedness because “the man who fears God will avoid all extremes”. No-one never sins… don’t pay attention to everything people say… the man who pleases God will not be ensnared by a dangerous woman… true wisdom is rare and often unattainable.
Continue ReadingSolomon’s dirge of negativism proceeds just the same in chapter 6 as he decries people having wealth which others end up benefitting from which he sees as meaningless and a “grievous evil”. A man may have a 100 children and live long, yet he will not enjoy his prosperity. He says that even if a rich man lives 2 millenniums he will always fail to enjoy his prosperity because death will always end everything. He says that everything is meaningless with no advantage for a wise man over a fool. For “whatever exists has been pre-ordained and it’s no good arguing about it with God who is stronger than us.”
Continue ReadingSolomon exhorts reverence in God’s house in Ecclesiastes 5: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of the Lord listening to God rather than speaking”. He also exhorts caution with vows making sure you fulfill your vows. He says that much dreaming and many words are meaningless. “Therefore stand in awe before God”. Then Solomon goes on to discuss love for money saying: “Whoever loves money never has money enough”! Rich people are never satisfied and it all adds up to a meaningless life. He says that a labourer sleeps well whereas a rich man has plenty of insomnia. For hoarded wealth harms its owner! “Naked a man is born and as he comes he departs!” Thus he says that the important thing in life is to find satisfaction in your work which is a gift of God.
Continue ReadingThis year our projects’ goal is to drill and equip 2 wells, set up 1 market garden, distribute 15 goats, build 4 toilet/shower units, construct 2 chicken runs and continue running 16 small schools. Then there is the on-going dental surgery, food hampers for the hungry, daily bread for the poor, sport in action for kids and teens, and work with the deaf and seniors. All this work goes hand in hand with evangelism, church planting, leadership training and Bible teaching. Please support the wide variety of EAB/ACEV ministries and pray for us and all our pastors and workers!
At Green Pastures I saw a Savanna Hawk and a flock of Cattle Egrets around a neighbour’s cattle.
Liz has been very busy sorting out the Waterboard that switched off our water supply at church by mistake. She finally got them to fix the problem yesterday a week later! Bless her heart.
Last night I had a meeting with our youth leaders to plan for the annual youth camp at Green Pastures in June. It was an excellent meeting.
Sadly QPR lost away to Millwall 2 x 0 today.
Continue ReadingInitially in Ecclesiastes 4 Solomon spoke of the oppression he saw “under the sun”. He said “I saw the tears of the oppressed without a comforter” and he felt that the dead were happier than the living, but better still would be to never have existed! He then goes on to discuss man’s toil which “springs from envy of his neighbour” and which is “meaningless and chasing the wind”. He proceeds to focus on those without friends. All the lonely people – where do they all come from? Thus he defines friendlessness as “a miserable business”. He say that “two are better than one so that if one falls the other can help him up”. He then concludes the chapter saying that a poor wise youth is better than an old foolish king. But, he ends saying, all is meaningless just chasing after the wind!
Continue Reading94-year-old ex Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has advanced Alzheimer’s and his children are now administering his finances. He was president from 1995 to 2003 and was a good president.
This morning we have had Great Kiskadees and Sayaca Tanagers flying around the garden at home.
Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and Rayla gave the study on 1 Samuel 2. It was a good service.
Continue ReadingA big new hospital is being built in Patos on the eastern side of town with a capacity for 245 to 300 beds. I would imagine that it will be completed within about a year.
I went for a spin to Green Pastures and saw lots of birds: Southern Lapwing, Crested Caracara, Red-cowled Cardinal, Dark-billed Cuckoo, Blue-Black Grassquit, Campo Troupial and Caatinga Cacholote. The reproduction of the Red-cowled Cardinals is full steam ahead with them making their second round of nests! 3 further young deer have also been observed near the lake.
Liz went to the Patos Women’s Fellowship weekly meeting last night and enjoyed it.
Continue ReadingI have completed writing the résumés of the 20th book of the Bible which is the book of Proverbs. This means I have finished 55% of the chapters of the Bible. I now press on with Ecclesiastes which is not a very inspiring book! It reminds me of Bob Dylan singing “Blowing in the Wind”!
It was great to receive news from Marian Rashleigh yesterday of a new EAB Action School sponsor and of a new EAB Action Child sponsor. This is very encouraging as we desperately need more sponsors for our 16 little schools and 850 children. Thank you to all who support this so important aspect of EAB’s work, and thanks to Marian for coordinating this work so well.
Last night I took part in the Patos Men’s Fellowship meeting where we enjoyed a nice time of fellowship which was very good.
Yesterday it rained another 15 mm at Green Pastures taking the year’s total rainfall to 597.6 mm.
Continue ReadingProverbs 3 presents the natural phases of life showing that God “has made everything beautiful in its time”. There is a time for birth and death, a time to plant and harvest, a time to cry and laugh, a time to mourn and dance, a time to love and a time to hate etc. Solomon goes on to say that there is nothing better for men to do than be happy and do good. For God, he says, will bring to judgement the righteous and the wicked. For God tests everyone. Man has no advantage over the animals and ends up in death in the same way. So Solomon’s conclusion is that the best you can do is enjoy work as beyond this is unknown.
Continue ReadingYesterday our 18-year-old granddaughter Alice passed her driving test at the first attempt. Alice is a university student in psychology and is doing very well and enjoying her course. She has already done two extra courses linked to autism. Well done Alice!
We brought more people into the Care Centre yesterday to be attended by our dentist. These are people who are poor and can’t get in for lack of public transport.
Continue ReadingSolomon embarked on an experiment to test what makes life worthwhile and first of all he said “I will test pleasure to find out what is good” but it turned out to be meaningless. Then he tried great projects to see if this gave meaning to life and he planted vineyards, made reservoirs etc. but it all ended up leaving him with an empty feeling “chasing after the wind”. Then the author turned to comparing following wisdom and folly to see which worked out best and neither gave meaning to life because both the wise man and the fool will both die and get forgotten. Hence despair took over as nothing gave meaning to living – and the chapter closes defining everything as meaningless “chasing after the wind”.
Continue ReadingThe book of Ecclesiastes is another wisdom book as was Proverbs, and it too is attributed to Solomon as was Proverbs. The author thinks through human life and considers that human endeavour and the seeking of pleasure to be “chasing the wind” in that nothing lasts, with the inevitability of death being the great party pooper.
Chapter 1 explodes initially with: “Meaningless… utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless… what does man get out of all his work?… the earth and all its forces just carries on… what has been will be again… there is nothing new under the sun… I, says Solomon, have studied this and can see that everything under the sun is meaningless just chasing after the wind… and so wisdom, madness and folly all add up to the same thing as with wisdom comes much sorrow”.
Continue ReadingNext Saturday the Cadnam Methodist Church will be holding its annual fundraising musical concert for the work of EAB. Please support this wonderful event which produces some top class music. You can purchase tickets from Howard Babey at hbabey42@gmail.com The church is in the New Forest 11 miles from Southampton and the concert starts at 7 pm. The address is Old Romsey Road, Cadnam, SO40 2NP.
I preached last night on Psalm 86 and Pastor Rafael led the service. It was a lovely service.
Last night it rained 18 mm at Green Pastures taking our total this year to 582 mm.
Continue ReadingI asked Deaconess Dodora of the ex-landless settlement if she could do a follow-up visit to sister Maria who accepted the Lord on Tuesday in São Mamede, and she found Maria happy in the Lord. She also visited sister Novinha who was baptized a few months ago.
QPR drew 0 x 0 at home to Bristol City yesterday.
Last night I preached at Green Pastures on John 7:14-24. It was a lovely service with a good crowd present. Folk came from the town of São Mamede and from the village of Picotes.
Continue ReadingTonight I will be taking the monthly communion service at Green Pastures and preaching on the teaching of Jesus as from John 7:14-24. I value your prayers.
I am progressing well with my résumés of the Bible and have completed another 10 chapters of Proverbs to complete up to chapter 20.
Continue Reading