2010 - A Believer's self examination

"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". Phil 2:12

So they told the King, but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the two shining ones, that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the city, to go out and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gate of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction. So I awoke, and behold it was a dream.  John Bunyan - The Pilgrim's Progress

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.Matthew 7:17-23

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) (Hebrews 3:8-11)

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.(2 Peter 2:20-22)

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:4-8)

Proverbs-Introduction

Proverbs the book
To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 
  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 
    To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 

The book of proverbs is an interesting book to read. Each chapter comes up with several short sentences that are not connected (some chapters are exception to this)and those verses hold meaning and importance on their own.

Each verse has the same purpose: to teach us words of understanding, give us wisdom, teach us right judgement and equity.

I often find it difficult when I purpose to read proverbs in a month to meditate on a full chapter (throughout the day) because of the variety of issues contained in it. However I always find myself draw to verses that I " had not notice before", and  as a consequence the highlighted verses on my Bible are growing in number  .
For that reason I always think it is important to read it over again, and to check if I have learned already the lessons from the rebukes it gave me the last time I read it...

We live in a world that praises vices, corruption and depravity, so it is not hard to get used to low standards and think we are pretty okay when compared to this world. However, as usual the word of God, is calling us to repent and look to our Lord Jesus as the only acceptable standard.

The plan:
To have a proverbial month. We will choose a proverb every day (from the chapter corresponding the date of the month) and add insights by means of Bible Commentary  ( MHC, John Gill's, etc) and observations from our everyday lives. I also count on you if you have a favorite verse we may add it over here for our own edification.
It is very simple :
First, obviously you will have to read the book as we go along, only one chapter a day.
Secondly, you can comment on the proverb of the day or choose another one and give it a brief explanation of personal and/or  general learnings on the verse. I think we can all profit very much from this activity.

You could also write a post on a proverbs verse and leave a  link of your post in the comment section.(  To make it easier for us to find the right post, please link directly to the post, not your front page.) 


Feel free to do as the Lord prompt you to!


May the Lord bless this spiritual activity!!!

Don't forget it only starts next year !!! 

In Christ
The Roque Family

Trouble in the Amish Paradise

This is a very interesting documentary(produced by BBC) about conversions amongst the Amish, in America. For those that do not know, the Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and a reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. They are not allowed even to use electric power!!! . Their society is regulated by strict rules that are "Theoretically"(or rather, loosely) based on the Bible. The documentary portrays the story of two families who began to read the Bible and had their lives transformed by GOD. It is worth watching...GOD bless

Consider Him - His Cross

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

(Matthew 16:24)

Jesus keep me near the cross:

there a precious fountain,

free to all, a healing stream,

flows from calvary's mountain.

In the cross, in the cross,

be my glory ever,

till my raptured soul shall find

rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me;

there the bright and morning Star

shed its beams around me.

In the cross, in the cross,

be my glory ever,

till my raptured soul shall find

rest beyond the river.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,

bring its scenes before me;

help walk from day to day

with its shadow o'er me.

In the cross, in the cross,

be my glory ever,

till my raptured soul shall find

rest beyond the river.

Near the cross I 'll watch and wait,

hoping trusting ever,

 till I reach the golden strand,

just beyond the river.

Frances Jane Van Alstyne, 1820-1915

Winter Shots and Ice Skating

Well, today was such a beautiful day that we could not resist taking a few more pictures of our great walk !

CAUTION!

Winter Shots and Entertainment

Here are some pictures of winter in Ennis.

And also some pictures of the way we entertain ourselves on those cold, wintry days... 

Consider Him- for without him...

We can do Nothing

I am the vine, ye the branches: He that abide in me and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.( John 15:5)

Conviction of Sin

Years ago, a preacher asked, "Tell me, when you preach, do you ever touch on sin?" 

I replied, "I'm sorry, but my experience is such that I can't speak about anything else." He said, 

"Well, I can't preach about sin, because every time I touch on the subject, I see the people getting uncomfortable and moving around on the benches."

For what purpose did Jesus come to this earth? What does the name Jesus mean? 

Christian Contentment

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

The Christian life is a challenging life. Although there are many outward tribulations and trials in it, a lot of the time we face ourselves fighting the old man.

Give thanks

As another year comes to its end, we are once again reminded of God’s faithfulness in keeping us safe through  his providence, grace, mercy and abounding blessings. We realise we have much more to be thankful for than we can think of. This past weekend has been a reminder of how GOOD and gracious God is.

Hast Thou No Scar?

Hast Thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side or hand?

I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;

I hear them hail thy bright ascending star,

Hast thou no scar?

Host thou no wound?

yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,

Leaned ME against a tree to die; and rent,

By ravening beasts that compassed me, I swooned,

Hast thou no scar?

No wound no scar?

yet, as the Master shall the servant be,

and pierced are the feet that follow me;

but thine are whole: Can he have followed far

who has no wound no scar?

Amy Carmichael

Fellowship

This past weekend we were very blessed by the Lord to be able to visit our dear friends, the Murphys. We had some amazing time of fellowship but in addition to that we were also given the opportunity to minister to other people.
 Well, the main reason that this became a post entry is because we honestly learnt so much from them. It was a blessing to hear them telling us stories on how the Lord has done so many things over the years that they have been living in Ireland and other countries. We heard some interesting stories of Bible smugglers to Russia, Chinese Christianity and so on.
We thank the Lord for so much freedom of religion we have in this country, and even back in Brazil where you can freely exercise your faith, and also proclaim it:  there is no restrictions about open street evangelism, handing out tracts, literature and so on.
We  realised that we do very little to engage into conversations and even be friendly to people having as our primary objective the good of their souls and consequently the Glory of God.

Can We Be Good Without God?

by J. Budziszewski from Boundless.org/officehours

I've been asked to speak today on the question, "Can we be good without God?" To answer, I'm tempted to tell you my own story. Years ago when I rejected God, I also rejected the distinction between good and evil. Then again, I was an extreme case. Someone who asks "Can we be good without God?" isn't trying to be extreme; he's looking for a halfway house. So instead of telling you my story, I'll try to lay out the logic of the matter.

Now the question "Can we be good without God?" may be taken in two different ways. One way focuses on knowledge, the other on action; one takes the question as meaning "Can we 'know' what's good without 'knowing' God?", the other takes it as meaning "Can we 'do' what's good without 'following' God?" Let's consider both.

Can We Know What's Good?

Christian Despair?

I read somewhere this week, (must remember where) that there is a huge difference between being convicted by the Holy Spirit of our sinfulness and necessity of repentance; and being accused by the enemy of our souls.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but as we were talking about that this morning, I thought I would share our brief thoughts:

• When the Holy Spirit convicts one, from one's sin, there is this deep sense of repentance (I will turn away from it), but there is also this rest and peace which assures you that, on one's self, nothing can be changed. I think that's when we start developing humility (by realising how unworthy we are and that only God can change us).

• When the evil one accuses us, on the other hand, there is this HUGE sense of failure, that is followed by despair, and then sometimes as a consequence, our hearts are hardened by unbelief and a sense that it is impossible to continue in our great walk.

By telling you that you can not change, the enemy of our souls is:

1.Telling you that out of your power you could have done something but you didn't. So we often buy into the lie that if we could have done better somehow God would be pleased with us. See, the very reliance on your own "power" for sanctification or even witnessing is sinful pride (well, there isn't no-sinful pride anyway).

2.Telling you that the walk of faith is a walk of works, and that you base your salvation on your performance, not on your faith in God's grace and mercies.

So if your spiritual battle gets very strong and you think about despairing remember God's promises, because many times it is necessary to face giant Despair to realise how gracious our Master is!

May the Lord bless you today!

The Ark Encounter Project 2014

Did you know that Answers in Genesis US are planning to build a full-scale Noah's Ark???

We are entering the Ark!. Are you?

"In addition to the full-size Ark, the complex will include a walled city much like those found in ancient times, live animal shows, a children’s interactive play area, a replica of the Tower of Babel with exhibits, a 500-seat 5-D special effects theater, an aviary, and a first-century Middle Eastern village."

For more information on these exciting news:

News Release (sent nationwide Wednesday morning*) - Answers in Genesis

God bless you all!

The weather-Thunderstoms

-It 's too cold...

- Oh horrible rain!

(...)

 - Lovely day isn't it?

- Yeah, beauuutiful, too hot and dry though, I wish we would get some rain .

(...)

The Gospel - its Simplicity and Profoundity

A man studying the gospel every hour of his day will never come to a total understanding of the gospel's profoundity, or its height, or scale, yet there won't be a minute in which his mind won't be enlarged by the knowledge of the infinite God. 

The Lord Jesus Christ- Consider Him

Abstract from the merit of Christ we can do nothing towards our justification, and apart from the Spirit of Christ nothing toward our sanctification.Without Christ we can do nothing that will be fruit pleasing to God or profitable to ourselves. [MHC] 

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Col 2:9

And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power:  Col 2:10

Fearing God

" No fears, no grace. Though there is not always grace where there is the fear of hell, yet to be sure there is no grace where there is no fear of God. For the fear of God of the beginning of wisdom, they that want [lack] the beginning have neither middle nor end."

-from Pilgrim's progress by John Bunyan

Consider Him

Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look fully in His wonderful face;
And the things earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;  Hebrews 3:1
Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. Hebrews 7:4
 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Hebrews 12:3

In Christ
J Roque

Busy for prayer??

Let us increase our prayings as we increase our doings. I like that of Martin Luther, when he says,

I have so much business to do today that I shall not be able to get through it with less than three hours' prayer.

Now most people would say, "I have so much business to do today, that I must only have three minutes' prayer; I cannot afford the time."

But Luther thought that  the more he had to do the more he must pray, or else he could not get trough it. That is a blessed kind of logic: may we understand it!

"Praying and provender, hinder no man's journey." If you have to stop and pray, it is no more a hindrance than when the rider has to stop at the farrier's to have his horse's shoe fastened, for if he went on without attending to that it may be that before long he would be forced to stop for a more serious problem.

Charles Spurgeon

Praying.. for what??

This week I was reflecting  on the necessity to pray for young  believers. I was reminded on how much it takes for a soul to be freed from the dark powers of evil and come to the light; and how precious is the salvation from God. The Bible calls this astonishing event ( being born again; John 3:3) necessary to see the kingdom of God.

I asked the Lord... and He has answered!

I asked the Lord that I might grow

in faith, and love and every grace,

might more of His salvation know,

and seek more earnestly His face.

' Twas He who taught me thus to pray,

and He, I trust, has answered prayer;

but it has been in such a way

as almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favoured hour

at once He'd answer my request;

and, by His love constraining power,

subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel

the hidden evils of my heart,

and let the angry powers of hell

assault my soul in every part.

Yes, more, with His own hand He seemed

intent to aggravate my woe,

crossed all fair designs I schemed,

blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

' Lord, why is this?' I trembling cried,

'will you pursue my worn to death?'

' Tis in this way', the Lord replied,

'I answer prayer for grace and faith'.

"These inward trials I employ,

from self and pride to set you free,

and break your schemes of earthly joy,

that you may seek your all in ME."

John Newton, 1725-1807
748, Christian  Hymns

A truly converted soul !

 -- from the Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
Then Christian began, and said, I will ask you a question. How came you to think at first of doing what you do now?

Hopeful:  Do you mean, how came I at first to look after the good of my soul?

Christian:Yes, that is my meaning.

Hopeful:  I continued a great while in the delight of those things which were seen and sold at our fair; things which I believe now would have, had I continued in them still, drowned me in perdition and destruction.

Christian: What things were they?

Hopeful: All the treasures and riches of the world. Also I delighted much in rioting, reveling, drinking, swearing, lying, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, and what not, that tended to destroy the soul. But I found at last, by hearing and considering of things that are divine, which, indeed, I heard of you, as also of beloved Faithful, that was put to death for his faith and good living in Vanity Fair, that the end of these things is death, [Rom. 6:21-23]; and that for these things’ sake, the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. [Eph. 5:6.]

Christian:And did you presently fall under the power of this conviction?

Hopeful:  No, I was not willing presently to know the evil of sin, nor the damnation that follows upon the commission of it; but endeavored, when my mind at first began to be shaken with the word, to shut mine eyes against the light thereof.

Christian:But what was the cause of your carrying of it thus to the first workings of God’s blessed Spirit upon you?

Hopeful: The causes were, 1. I was ignorant that this was the work of God upon me. I never thought that by awakenings for sin, God at first begins the conversion of a sinner. 

2. Sin was yet very sweet to my flesh, and I was loth to leave it. 

3. I could not tell how to part with mine old companions, their presence and actions were so desirable unto me.

 4. The hours in which convictions were upon me, were such troublesome and such heart-affrighting hours, that I could not bear, no not so much as the remembrance of them upon my heart.

Christian: Then, as it seems, sometimes you got rid of your trouble?

Hopeful:  Yes, verily, but it would come into my mind again; and then I should be as bad, nay, worse than I was before.

Christian:Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again?

Hopeful:  Many things; as,

1. If I did but meet a good man in the streets; or, 

2. If I have heard any read in the Bible; or, 

3. If mine head did begin to ache; or, 

4. If I were told that some of my neighbors were sick; or, 

5. If I heard the bell toll for some that were dead; or, 

6. If I thought of dying myself; or, 

7. If I heard that sudden death happened to others. 

The Love of God / O Amor de Deus

We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19  

His love is the incentive, the motive, and moral cause of ours. We cannot but love so good a God, who was first in the act and work of love, who loved us when we were both unloving and unlovely, who loved us at so great a rate, who has been seeking and soliciting our love at the expense of his Son's blood; and has condescended to beseech us to be reconciled unto him.Let heaven and earth stand amazed at such love! !!

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Unbelief or Rebellion?!?

We are inclined to buy into the modern view that " belief" is a matter of opinion.

Picture of the Week

I just opened the blog and thought I should write something. I was then, wondering about what I should write. Well, here goes:
Earlier this week I was looking through some pictures and found this one, which is really beautiful because it reflects the glory of our King shown through Creation. At the minute I saw this, I thought of Psalm 19, verse 1:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

It is impossible not to see that there is a God Almighty when you see such a beautiful sight as this. If you look for a second at the sky with its millions of stars you can be convinced of His existence and His handwork (Psa 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.) Our Lord is Great indeed! His works are amazing!
Praise be to the Lord for such a beautiful Creation!

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. (Psalm 8:1)

Interrogando Imãos e Irmãs- Tradução

O sermão de domingo passado foi interessante. O Pastor falou sobre Tito 2:1-11 e apesar de eu não estar escrevendo sobre o sermão em si, tem algo que foi dito que eu penso ser muito, muito relevante.A lição que eu aprendi esta semana com pregacão e que nós temos que olhar para os outros cristãos para aprender com eles.

O Peregrino - Tradução

Bom, eu não tenho escrito aqui ha algum tempo ... A vida é muitas vezes ocupada. Sempre penso que deveria escrever mais neste blog, e estou realmente envergonhada porque não o faço mais vezes, mas sim, estudar ocupa muito do meu tempo... Agitação é o pior inimigo deste blog :).

De qualquer forma, não é sobre isso que eu quero falar ... Quero falar (como o título sugere, se você tirou tempo para lê-lo) sobre "O Peregrino" de John Bunyan.

Our Hope: The life to come

Yesterday I was reading on Colossians 3: 1-11 and I was once more awakened to the necessity to once more set my affections upon heavenly things...
Isn't that interesting that we want to be good students, eat healthly, provide the best for our family, and although these things are important and part of life, many times we forget the most important part of our life is yet to come...
As Christians our hope is eternal, and not from these world. How then can we so oftentimes set our afections in so weak, meaningless things as the ones around us??

May the Lord gives us all wisdom to keep our hearts and minds where they should be:
In Christ

J Roque

Christian Living/ Putting on New Clothes

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.(...)

Questions. Questions??!!??

The Christian life is something very exciting, specially when you consider the process of learning new things.

Grilling Brothers and Sisters...

The sermon this last Sunday was interesting. Pastor talked on Titus 2:1-11 and although I won't be writing about the sermon itself, there was something that was said that I thought to be very ,very relevant.

The lesson I learnt this week from that sermon was that we have to be looking up to other Christians to learn from them.

He said that once in a while we should get one Christian
(older in the faith, or more mature) and ask questions, or to be more accurate: "to grill them".

Pilgrim's Progress

Well, I haven't written here in a while...Life is quite busy oftentimes.
I am always thinking that I should write more on this blog, and am quite ashamed I do not do it more often, but indeed studying takes up a lot of my time. Busyness is the worst enemy of this blog :)

Anyways, that is not what I want to talk about...
I want to talk about (as the title might suggest, if you took the time to read it) the Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

It is well

When peace like a river attendeth my way;
when sorrows like sea-billows, roll,
whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say:
'It is well, it is well with my soul.'
It is well with my soul;

 it is well, it is well with my soul!!

Conference Audio

The audio of the Conference ( Jesus Christ: Prophet, Priest and King) is available at the Clonmel Baptist Church website.
It is under the series " Autumn Church Conference 2010 ".
You can listen to that here.

May the Lord bless your life

J Roque

Driving test...

Yesterday, Paulo was blessed in passing his driving test.

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 3

Read Part 1, Part 2
This has been a very hard and busy week, so I just got to finish this " report " about the conference today...

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 2

Part 1
... Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.
The Second sermon was about Jesus Christ as a priest. We were encouraged to look closely, fully consider and understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is described not as a priest but as the High Priest.

Jesus Christ as High Priest acting on our behalf, offered sacrifice for our sins. He was the only one who could and did satisfy the wrath of God and died so that justice would be made. So that the guilty, condemned man would be set free, when the Lord Jesus did die in his place.
Three features are seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as a priest:

• His purity, character and the quality of his person
• The ability to symphatise with the lost man
• The purposefulness of his death on the cross

A very interesting point on this second sermon was that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was presented in a way that we rarely see it done. I hope this quote explain what I am trying to say:

" It wasn't a tragedy that God the Son was put on the cross. IT WAS HIS GLORY.We dare not approach the Father except through Jesus Christ."

Isn't that interesting that sometimes when we hear people talking about the gospel in some called Christian circles, we hear them trying to persuade you to pity the fact that the Lord Jesus was crucified. They try to transform the gospel in some sort of politically correct , acceptable message of a sentimental, weak love.They try to reduce the name and authority of the Christ Jesus to simply a Saviour that is always there just in case you change your mind and decide to accept it. They forget his Lordship, his glory and power.
When we start reading the Scriptures it tells us of a completely different story.It tells us that it was the power of God that his Son would die for the sins of his people. The whole of the Scriptures is about the One that would come to save His people from their sins. The death on the cross is the means by which salvation would be accomplish.
When you talk about God the Father, people (although confronted with their wickedness and the fact that they have transgressed God's law) try to get themselves alright with hopes that eventually they will do good enough to be saved. But when you start talking about Jesus Christ on the cross, and the fact that it took the Son of God to make atonement for such an offense as ours, then the story changes:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
This is our message!

In Christ alone!!

J Roque

to be continued...

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 1

Today we were able to attend a much blessed conference in the Clonmel Baptist Church.
 I was looking forward to it specially this being our first conference in a while, and indeed I was  blessed beyond my expectations by the 3 preachers talking on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Mind of Christ!

Now we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God...( 2 Co 2:12)
For who has know the mind of the Lord that he might instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. 
(2 Co 2:16)

Our prayers, God's answers

He asked for strength that he might achieve;
he was made weak that he might obey.


He asked for health that he might do greater things;
he was given  infirmity that he might do better things.


He asked for riches that he might be happy;
he was given poverty that he might be wise.


He asked for power that he might have the praise of men;
he was given weakness that he might feel the need of God.


He asked for all things that he might enjoy life;
he was given life that he might enjoy all things.


He has received nothing that he asked for, all he hoped for;
his prayer is answered.

Seek ye first...

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Priorities

Let us use worldly things as wise pilgrims do their staves and other necessaries convenient for their journey. So long as they help us forward in our way, let us make use of them, and accordingly esteem them. But if they become troublesome hindrances and cumbersome burdens, let us leave them behind us, or cast them away.

George Downame

Grace alone

"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, 'You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself.' My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will."
--Charles Spurgeon

Hymn of the week

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

.................................................................

This is my story...This is my song!!!

Isn't that amazing how those inspired hymns express the believer's stories, feelings, thoughts, and somehow are able to encourage us in our daily walk with the Lord?

Growing up I would listen and sing the hymns at the church service and in many occasions find it hard to understand those righteous, high- minded, pure and yet so accurate words singing sound gospel teachings concerning salvation, God's grace, assurance...Blessed be the Lord for those enriching hymns that have though me to expect the highest standard when things concerned are God's.

Christian Living

And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.
I was reading/listening today about the consequences of being filled with the Spirit as opposite of being "drunk with wine".
It is rather interesting that sometimes we tend to have a very shallow understanding of some verses in the Bible. At times we tend very literal, in other circumstances we  look at Scriptures and think it does not apply to our "modern way of living" and even worse sometimes reject some verses simply because our sinful nature has difficult accepting God's unchangeable standards.
Well that's not quite the point of this post but anyway, we will get there...

Being drunk expresses a lack of self- control, it shows that you are not in charge of your thinking, you don't have power over your faculties.
The application of this passage is much vaster than we actually think about.
How often we are so filled with Tv news but not filled with the understanding of the gospel?
How often we are so filled with our worldly thinking or worries that we forget to seek the Lord in prayer?
How often we are so excited about a new movie coming up, or one that we just watched but can't really remember what was the passage we read in our devotional time?

I know that at times our hearts are so hardened that we barely see the implications of those things in our lives, but in general I think most of time we don't even realise how much we've being drinking of this world's thinking, standards and way of living...we get that kinda messed up understanding caused by our minds has been immersed into too much "wine".
The word of God calls us rather to " be filled with the Spirit" which implies seeking God through His word,  learning His will and praying. This passage also tells us what are the immediate consequences of being filled with the Spirit.

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of  our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.


As a first consequence we have fellowship with one another. We share what we have learned, we make mention of what the Lord has done in our lives, we encourage and build up one another. We simply talk of what is the most important thing in our lives which is to please Him that has shown so much love toward us.
The second consequence of being filled with the Spirit is sing and praise God , having a heart full of adoration and praise towards the One that not only saved us but also adopted us as dear children (Ephesians 5:1).
All Spiritual coldness is a direct consequence of not being filled with the Spirit.
The next consequence is "giving thanks".We can safely assume that a discontent, ungrateful heart is caused by not been filled with the Spirit.
At last the fourth consequence is to submit to one another in the fear of God, considering others better than ourselves. It is to seek for ways to serve the brethren and bless their lives. An obvious consequence of not being filled with the Spirit is looking on other fellow Christians with contempt, and not considering them superior to ourselves.

If we really want to know how to live the Christian life it can be summarised in a sentence:

"Be filled with the Spirit".

Anyone thirsty??

Ps: you can listen to these sermons on Christian Living here and here.

In Christ

J Roque

Update...

Well it has been a while since I've been over here, but summer has been quite busy (and is almost over ) so I will try to mention the main things that have happened...

Prayer

As I am on summer holidays, I try to read as many books as I possibly can on different topics. I am currently reading "A call to Spiritual Reformation" by D.A. Carson. We got this book a year ago, but I had never thought about reading it until now. It is an excellent book about the priorities from Paul and his prayers.
Well, many of us find it really difficult to pray. Even when we have prayed for the whole world, and everything we can think of, the clock accuses us of having been talking to our Lord for only 3 or 4 minutes. Sometimes we are too busy with our lives to dedicate much time to prayer; sometimes we don't have a clue what to pray for. Oh yes, and we can't forget the times when we have problems with mental drift in our prayer. The fact is that many Christians spend only a couple of minutes of their day talking to the Heavenly Father and think it is enough, or even worse, some do not pray at all. This book talks about Paul's prayer priorities, and tells us what Paul advises us to pray for. Robert Murray M'Cheyne declared more than a century ago: "What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is and no more." Indeed we are ourselves when we are talking with the Lord for He knows the whole of our hearts. Let's hear what Carson has to say about what Paul focused his prayers on:

In 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 Paul shows in his prayer, a “thankfulness for Signs of Grace in the Thessalonians' lives. Thanksgiving is a fundamental component of the mental framework that largely controls Paul's intercession. But for what does Paul offer thanks?

1. Paul gives thanks that his readers' faith is growing.
2. Paul gives thanks that their love is increasing.
3. Paul gives thanks that they are persevering under trial.

So what do WE thank God for? We must look for signs of grace in the lives of Christians, and give God thanks for them. For what have we thanked God recently? Have we gone over a list of members at our local church, say, or over a list of Christian workers, and quietly thanked God for signs of grace in their lives? Do we make it a matter of praise to God when we observe evidence in one another of growing conformity to Christ, exemplified in trust, reliability, love and genuine spiritual stamina? After all, the Lord taught us Himself that our hearts will run to where our treasure lies. If what we highly cherish belongs to the realm of heaven, our hearts and minds will incline to heaven and all its values; but if what we highly cherish belongs to the realm of earth and the merely transitory, our hearts and minds (and prayers) will incline to the merely transitory.

In his prayer for the Thessalonians, Paul has a confidence in the prospect of vindication. We are losing our anticipation of the Lord's return, the anticipation that Paul shows is basic to his thought. The prospect of the Lord's return in glory, the confidence that there will be a final and irrevocable division between the just and the unjust- these have become merely creedal points for us, instead of ultimate realities that even now are life-transforming. If we do not aim for the new heaven and the new earth, many of our values and decisions in this world will be myopic, unworthy, fundamentally wrong headed. Can biblical spirituality survive where Christians are not oriented to the world to come?

Paul keeps in mind his gratitude for the signs of grace among the people for whom he prayed and simple confidence in the prospect of God's perfect vindication of his people when Jesus returns.


What kind of petitions should we present to the living God?Paul's petitions:
1. That God might count the Thessalonians worthy of their calling. Since these Thessalonians are Christians, they have been already called, and now Paul prays that they might live up to that calling. That means these believers must grow in all the things that please God so that He is pleased with them, and finally judges them to be living up to the calling that they have received. Paul wants us to become what we were not, and he prays to that end. He prays that Christians might become worthy of all that it means to be a Christian, of all that it means to be a child of the living God, of all that it means to be worthy of the love that brought Jesus to the cross. On the last day, God will ask: "What have you done with the salvation I bestowed on you? How have you responded to the way I graciously called you to myself? Have you begun to live up to that calling?" Do we not spend far more energy praying for our children that they pass their exams, or get a good job, or be happy, than we do praying that they may live lives worthy of what it means to be a Christian?

2. That God by his power might bring to fruition each Christian's good, faith prompted purposes. What are our goals and purposes? What should we be attempting for Christ's sake? And as we find answers to such questions, we must intercede with God that he, by his great power, might bring these good purposes, these faith-prompted acts, to bountiful fruitfulness.

The goal of Paul’s prayer:
1. Paul seeks the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian’s whole desire, at its best and highest, is that Jesus Christ be praised. It is always wretched when we want to win glory for ourselves instead of for Him. When we do anything with the secret desire that we might be praised for our godliness and service, we have corrupted the salvation we enjoy. Its purpose is to reconcile us to God, for God must be the center of our lives, the ground and the goal of our existence.

2. Paul seeks the glorification of believers. The final transformation, as wonderful as it is, is prefaced by a whole series of transformations, as we become increasingly conformed to the likeness of Christ, in anticipation of the climatic glorification at the end. When we glorify God, we are not giving him something substantial that he would not otherwise have. We are simply ascribing to him what is his. But when we are glorified, in the sense just described, we are being made more like him, we are being strengthened or empowered to exhibit characteristics that we would not otherwise display. On the last day, Jesus Christ will be glorified in us on account of what we have become by his grace, and we will be glorified in him on account of what he has done for us. Brothers and sisters in Christ, at the heart of all our praying must be a biblical vision. That vision embraces who God is, what he has done, who we are, where we are going, what we must value and cherish. This vision drives us toward increasing conformity with Jesus, toward lives lived in the light of eternity. That vision must shape our prayers, so that the things that most concern us in prayer are those that concern the heart of God. Then we will persevere in prayer.”

Well, Paul’s prayers help us understand how to pray, and what to pray for. So, tonight, as you pray, take time to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ, so that they may be worthy of their calling, and that the Lord Jesus may be glorified in them.

Quotation from D.A. Carson “A call to Spiritual Reformation”

Though the outward man...

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal;but the things which are not seen  are eternal. 
2 co 4:16-18


"The Christian's ultimate hope is for the resurrection body. But until we receive that gift, it is our inner being that is being strengthened by God's power. In a culture where so many people are desperate for good health , but not demonstrably hungry for the transformation of the inner being, Christians are in urgent need of following Paul's example and praying for display of God's power in the inner man. In short, Paul's primary concern is to pray for a display of God's mighty power in the domain of our being that controls our character and prepares us for heaven ".

D.A. Carson 
in a call to Spiritual Reformation.

Global Government

I really doubted for a moment whether I should post and recommend an article like this over here. Well it wasn't because it didn't contain anything significant, or it will not be able to stretch, enrich your mind and open your eyes to what is going on around you. It is simply because at times I think that I should  not spend precious hours of my day reading something that merely adds information to my day.
What I am saying is that at times when I spend too much time reading things like that, I get so into it that it occupies more of my thoughts than I would be comfortable with.

Nevertheless I pray that this article may aid your thoughts concerning this world, and how it is important that we do understand the claims of the word of God when it says: "Be not conformed to this world".
 I hope that as you read through you will be able to see from a practical perspective how the world sees life, and as you study the world of God you may see how God in his perfect plan has shown us how to live as Christian men and women, boys and girls.

The article is quite a summary of how the world is governed by a small powerful elite that controls all aspects of our earthly lives from entertainment to media, food industry and so on. Take some time to read it and think how we Christians are commanded to respond according to the precious teachings of the world of God.
Please remember as good servants of the Almighty God, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Th 5:21 ".

You can read it here.

In Christ 

J Roque

Hymn of the week

A Pilgrim in a desert land,
 I wander far and wide,
expecting that I may some time come
close to my Father's side.

Ahead of me I think I hear
sounds of a heavenly choir,
 a conquering host already gone
through tempest, flood and fire.

So prone I am when on my own
to stray from side to side,
 I need each step to paradise,
my God to be my guide.

I have a yearning for that land,
 where the unnumbered throng
extol the death on Calvary
in heaven's unending song!!

William Williams, 1717-91
tr. by Robert Maynard Jones, 1929

Paganism

During our stay in Clonmel we had the opportunity to hear Pr. Matthew talk about paganism during the evening talks to teenagers and young adults. He focused on the similarities of our present society and ancient roman society practices...

OHhhhh it definitely brought back some memories!!
About 2 and half years ago we started reading the portuguese traslation (A espada do Espírito) of some of the articles published by a ministry that studies Bible prophecies and relate them to world events. Boy did we get scared?!?!... I suppose that was the same feeling most of the people listening to the talk had on that evening. But the most amazing thing is that the Lord allowed us to learn all those things, and had somehow used it as to show us that a the end of the day "He controls everything".

Pr. Matthew was very precise in appointing how the entertainment being offered to us nowadays is one of the tools to stop people from thinking, learning and reflecting on life in a meaningful way. Another very important point was the fact that our society has become so pagan and is increasingly godless that real Christians for the sake of the Lord shall see hard times ahead.

 I think it is extremely beneficial, specially to young people, to have some kind of fear of that sort, it reminds us of our Spiritual warfare and that we have an enemy before us everyday, accusing us day and night before God, and hating us because "God so loved us...Pr. Matthew was right in his reply on a question on what we got to do. He simply said our focus HAS TO BE on above, on Eternity.

For a good while after constantly hearing and reading about how the world is going, and been controlled to become like you name it: Roman Empire, New World Order, Anti- Christ's kingdom and so on; I felt anxious to share about it all the time and to "awake people to reality". The reality that I had just discovered. But one person always put me on perspective: Always when sharing with mom about the meaning of prophecies and how things would get worse and worse she would simply reply saying that this is natural, we live in a fallen world, our adversary is constant working still thinking he can overcome God, so why would I think the world is a " safe and nice" place to live?

That thought has freed me from fear of the increasing evil around us, it did not though by a second made me forget the fear of God and God alone for " the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Pv 1:7; the fear of the Lord (what does HE says in His word about it?) has helped me in my choices over what will I allow my eyes to see, what kind of activities I should take part in, what music should I allow myself to hear and so on. It was not until I understood the evil power behind certain activities, music, books that I could understand  the necessity of " keeping my heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.Pv 4:23. 


 We have to recognise that this is something our generation has to think about, many Christians have been fooled into thinking that wordly activities have no influence on their children's minds and the way they will build their worldview. The people writing your child's school curriculum are very much concerned (without knowing it ) in making your child a "model citizen" , questioning the beliefs you teach them about the  word of God ,and unless Christians start seeing those things, we are going to have more and more people calling themselves Christian but stumbling on the very first chapter of the Bible, not knowing what to believe. We are going have Christian still wondering what to think over Euthanasia and Abortion and core issues that for many years have been so decidedly considered wrong and sinful by all of God's people.

It is amazing, isn't it? the amount of controversy in our "Christian churches" over the authority of the Scriptures, the meaning of the Gospel and even about our Lord Jesus Christ. Pr. Matthew pointed out that today it is  not enough to say you are Christian as everyone is a Christian nowadays, right?

The Bible calls Christians not to conform to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
Are we constantly increasing our knowledge on the eternal things, are we looking to the word of God and looking for answers to practical aspects of our lives?
Is what we believe ( or think we do) changing the way we act, and respond ? Is it affecting every aspect of our daily activities, encounters, conversations ? Are we becoming more Christ-like?

In Christ our Redeemer!

J Roque

Church Annual Barbecue Day 4

Day 4

The last day we had agreed with Nadia to go for a walk and give out some tracts, so we went to her house and then, from there, we went for a walk. We walked for about one hour, and it was so nice to know more about her and to be able to get some encouragement from her! We planned on giving out some tracts but the houses had gates and signs of “Beware of dogs”, so we decided it would be safer if we gave out tracts in the town centre. :) I took some pictures of flowers and countryside. I really learned with Leah!!! Thanks Leah.

After our LONG walk, (I almost died lol) we went to Nadia’s house, where we had lunch and some great fellowship with her family (and lots of fun as well). Lunch was great, God bless Sigrid!

Barbara told us to go and help her at her house with all the Barbecue stuff. The three of us (Nadia, Ju and I) went, and while there, we were so tired! (You know what I mean right?) We cleaned some chairs, put some ham in the plates, and learned a bit about the game we were going to play with the families at night.

So at 6pm the barbecue started. It was great, really, and I got to talk to people I had never the chance of talking before. Plus, Nadia brought Uno, which was a great entertainer among us. The food was delicious and the fellowship, marvellous!

All the people who were leaders in the holiday club, were also leaders for a challenge game we played with the families. It was called "the Pea fair". Each family had to do some activities and if they did them, they would get one pea. My activity was skipping. If they skipped 15 times without stopping, they’d get a pea, if they did it 30 times, they’d get 2 peas and so on... Well, everyone could skip like 50 times, and most of the kids could skip up to 100 times so, I was giving away peas like water! I think my game was the easiest (well, compared to bb guns or snooker, mine was REALLY easy)...It was really good though, to talk to everyone in the church. There was such a good spirit of team working. It was so much fun to see everyone skipping and wanting to do it again just to get more peas! Meabh skipped at least 5 times!

After this game, it was the leader’s turn to go on the bouncing castle. As we were jumping, some people started pushing us down the slide. I got injured lol. Paulo was the one who hit me in the head. Seriously! I never thought I would get injured in a bouncing castle for KIDS (

none of the kids actually got injured, and some of the the grown ups did. At least I wasn't the only one!)

Paulo, Jules and I gave up the bouncing castle because it was too dangerous for us... (Do you get the irony?) and everyone started playing Uno.

After that we went home. It was a GREAT day! We thanked the Lord for the opportunity of fellowship with our brothers and sisters, and getting to know them better.

That was basically our four days in Clonmel. The Lord indeed blessed us, and we pray that the kids will come to the youth clubs and that they may know the Lord as their Saviour! I can't tell what a joy we had with our brothers and sisters! I pray that the Lord will always bless them, even the young people in their daily walk with the Lord.

Clonmel Holiday Club Day 3

Day 3 at club:

This would be the last day of camp, so we wanted to make a lasting impression on the kids, so that they would come to the youth club that takes place every Friday night in Clonmel.

They first jumped on the bouncing castles. It was a blessing that we had two bouncing castles this day. The kids really enjoyed jumping there. Then we played some “parachute” games, then we went upstairs for the story. The Pastor told the end of Joseph’s story, and it was such a blessing to see all the kids paying attention and willing to answer questions about it. We pray that they keep this story in their hearts and that they may come to know our Saviour, and come to visit the youth club of Clonmel Baptist Church. There was again the songs, and the “Who am I?” game. Hannah was Hannah, so this one was hard for the kids to guess. But somehow they did guess it!

At the end, we announced the winner: Pointy Pyramids got 1560 points, Slinky Sphinxes got 1500 points (by the way, they actually got 1300 points, but the kids would be really disappointed so I adjusted the score :D)

The kids went again to the bouncing castle and we were really happy that the Lord protected them and none got hurt.

We went back home once more, to eat our dinner with the promise that we would be able to jump in the bouncing castle in the evening :). Dinner was delicious, as always, and we praise the Lord for Alice’s life!

We went back to the school, just to find some young people already jumping on the bouncing castle. There were people even wrestling there! Man, I could not believe my eyes! Even Clivete was jumping there! Seriously! So Jules and I decided to join everyone else in the fun. We jumped for some minutes, until we went to listen to the last talk.

And what a talk! It was on Paganism. Pastor Matthew took the Roman Society and compared it to our society today. The bread and circus policy of that time is just what is happening today with entertainment. And that reminded Jules and I of three years ago, when we started reading about Paganism, and the New World Order, and the Rapture and all of that. Needless to say, we got soo scared! I think this was the same feeling that everyone was feeling this day, when listening to the talk. The parallel between the two societies made it even more understandable. I think that we as young Christians need to listen to things like that, so that we can wake up to the reality that the world we live in is BAD and that people are worshipping more “the creature than the Creator who is blessed forever, Amen.” We as Christians, tend to live normally, calmly and happily, blind to the things that are happening around us. But our Lord is coming. Are we doing His work? Persecutions will come, are we ready to take a stand and suffer for Christ? I think Jules will write a post about that later on, so I won’t get into much detail. It was a real encouragement to once again, be reminded where we stand, what is the posture of a born-again Christian in the world today. After the talk, I’d say everyone was perplexed. I think everyone was thinking about it, I mean, persecutions and Christianity nowadays. We stayed inside, eating ice cream and talking to the people who were there. It was really great to talk to some of our sisters in Christ, and we talked about things that will last forever. I asked some of the girls from Waterford how they came to know the Lord, and we talked about witnessing and etc. It was a blessing to talk about those things with people the same age as us, so that we could see they go through the same struggles as us, and we could offer and get some encouragement from them.

After we talked for a long time, it was time to go home. The battery of Clivete’s car was dead, so it was a great fun to see her and the guys trying to make the car work. The thing they were doing was quite dangerous, however, Clivete didn’t mind, she just went there, and made the car work :).

As we came home, we were REALLY grateful to the Lord, for such a blessed talk, and the sweet moments of fellowship we had with the other young people present. We felt the Lord working in each one’s heart and in our hearts as well, teaching us many things about a servant’s heart.