Brazilian Church

What’s Good in Contemporary Worship? Day 2- Bilingual

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Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” Mark 5:41 NLT

I have always been intrigued at the various times within the Gospels that Jesus switched from one language to another. After all, why would Mark tell us in today’s verse that these specific words were spoken in Aramaic, if that were not the language Jesus was already using? Hebrew was the language Jesus would have been spoken earlier, and ironically the Gospel of Mark was then recorded in Greek. Throw a little Latin into the mix, as the tongue of the ruling authorities in Judea, and you will begin get the idea of the linguistic world that Jesus lived in.

Having attended a Brazilian church in Pennsylvania for sixteen years and serving on the worship team there for several of those years, I had to learn to move from one language to another daily. Quite often the set of worship songs we practiced included both English and Portugues as well a few that had verses which flowed from one to the other. What I learned in those days was that while praising God this way, our differences didn’t disappear, but that we began to mirror the verse in Revelation of people worshipping from every nation, tribe and tongue. (Revelation 5:9)

Today in America, there are over 43 million people whose native tongue is Spanish, and that number is growing rapidly, both through immigration as well as by birth. While the primary language of our nation remains English, it certainly won’t hurt, especially in the church if a few more of us could at least blunder along a bit in Spanish. Remember, Jesus commanded (not suggested) that we make disciples of ALL nations (Matthew 5:19). I have found that one way of making disciples is through bi-lingual worship. Our churches should not be where we battle, over which language is better. Rather, the Church of Jesus Christ is where including everyone means being able to communicate with them, and what better place to begin than during our times of worship? One of my favorite examples of this is called Be Alright (“Todo va a estar bien”). In this delightful song, Danny Gokey, Evan Craft and Willy González Cruz, combine to present the message that we can trust God’s goodness in the midst of difficulties and changes. With everything going on in the news lately, their message is never more important than right now. Once again, I welcome everyone’s input, but I do suggest that your comments will be more helpful if you listen first. Thanks so much! Be blessed, Dios lo bendiga, and Deus te abençoe!

Women in the Church – Day 2

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He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:26 ESV

Entering (Tiptoeing or striding you decide!) into day two of this area, I confess that I may be inadequate to debate all the details of where women fit in with leadership in the church. What I can do is share both from my personal experience as well as from a biblical basis, as to why women need to be included in some leadership roles in God’s church. Yes, Paul does say that he wants women to be silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34), but I promise to address that on day three. Today let’s simply take a deep breath, step back and look at the New Testament church as a whole. What we will find is that there were definitely times when women are speaking and in today’s verse, Priscilla, together with her husband Aquila took aside Apollos. This man Apollos was one of the preeminent leaders of the Greek church and one whom the Apostle Paul considered an equal to himself and to Peter (see I Corinthians 3:5). Together this godly couple, pointed out some things that Apollos needed to learn and he willingly listened. Notice, the verse doesn’t say that Aquila took him aside, but that together as a team, they both explained the word of God to him. Their teaching was not just an interesting detail but something that was vital for Apollos to learn about the gospel, so that he could fulfill his own calling. Now if a woman could be included in teaching a great leader like Apollos, then surely women have a role to play today that we should not overlook.

Secondly, not only as in today’s verse, may women assist their husband in shepherding God’s flock, but they are also called to share their own special testimony of what God has brought them through. Let’s return to yesterday where we looked at the life of Corrie Ten Boom. Beginning in the 1950’s, she travelled all over the world speaking about God’s grace and forgiveness based on her life experience at the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany during World War Two. Corrie, not only wrote extensively, but had a film made of her time at the camp made called, “The Hiding Place.” Or what of the writing and speaking of Lisa Beamer, whose husband Todd died in the downing of flight 93 on 9/11? Should she have spoken at the Wheaton College chapel in 2021? In our own fourteen years of service on the staff of a Brazilian church, my wife and I were often blessed by the ministry of the pastor’s wife. She held the title of “Pastora”. When she spoke, it was almost always about developing an intimate relationship with God in prayer, which was something she had learned from the hours she spent on her knees interceding for others. So as I end today, my prayer is that these insights will do more than ruffle feathers or stimulate debate. I sincerely hope that they will all look more deeply into the wonderful complexity of the subject of women in leadership roles. If we are careful, prayerful and open to all the counsel of God’s word on the subject we just may open a door for more of what God has for all of us in His church today! Now, stay tuned for day three!

Learning From Our Latino Friends

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Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers
Proverbs 17:6 ESV

Four years ago, we retired and moved to Florida. Oh, the weather is grand, and I tolerate the heat and humidity, recalling that I will never have to dig my car out of three feet of snow again! We live in a nice quiet neighborhood, go to a nice church and life is easier. But I miss the Brazilian church where we attended and served on staff for 16 years. With Grandparent’s Day just around the corner, I am missing more and more, how our Brazilian brothers and sisters related to older people. Now, of course our Anglo church is respectful of older folks, and schedules lots of senior stuff, like luncheons and trips, but I miss being invited to birthday parties for 1 year-old’s and being asked to pray a blessing before we sang – Parabens pra voce! (Happy birthday). I miss heading out with everyone else for ice cream on hot summer nights after church and having young people hanging around with us at the church picnics.

Today’s verse lays out the model that God has in mind for us. It says that older people’s greatest glory is not going on a cruise with a bunch of other old folks but being included and honored among the people who are their children and grandchildren. One custom I loved was called “Bencoes” (Blessings) This meant that when a family visit was over, the young ones would run to their uncles, aunts or grandparents and ask for blessings before they left for home. They were remembering that we older people are carrying a blessing to give. So, let’s ask ourselves, “How can I give away a blessing to the younger people around me?” or if you are that younger person, “Who can I honor by asking their blessings on my life today?”