Joshua 12 (résumé): The Conquests of Israel

This chapter is a summary of all the conquests by the Israelites, giving a complete list of the 31 kings defeated west of the Jordan under Joshua's leadership, from the king of Jericho to the king of Tirzah. The defeat of these kings involved the conquest of all their lands which they were king over. The chapter also reminds us of the earlier conquests under Moses' leadership east of the Jordan, defeating Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. The latter, it comments, was one of the last of the Rephaites from Genesis 6. This conquered land east of the Jordan was given to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and all the land conquered west of the Jordan was distributed to the remaining tribes of Israel. 

Mid-week

We had a lovely mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study which I led and pastor Rafael gave the study in Micah 4:1-7. We had solos from Chico, Vasti and Espedita and various brothers and sisters read 'my Scripture verses'. Marina and David led the praise and worship.

EAB's bi-annual magazine 'InTouch' is now at the printers. Edition 103 should reach you later in the month by snail mail. Our thanks go to Marian Rashleigh (editor) and to Dave Flowers (producer). This edition covers such topics as book day, child evangelism, delivery by donkey, Itaporanga mission, well, indians, social worker, Bible day, bathroom, honorary citizen, baptisms, walk of witness, Ipueira outreach, Otoniel and EAB AGM.  

Yesterday I saw a Tropical Screech-Owl at Green Pastures as well as Red-cowled Cardinals, Picui Ground-Doves, Plain-breasted Ground Doves and a Limpkin.

We desperately need rain! The rainy season is a disaster thus far. Please pray!

Yesterday we had another disappearance incident with Brother José from São Mamede who went missing on a trip to Patos to receive his pension. Thankfully he was found late in the day having got delayed!

Joshua 11 (résumé): Northern Kings defeated

 When Jabin king of Hazor heard about how Israel had conquered all the southern Canaanite cities he formed a military alliance with all the northern kings producing a massive army against the Israelites. Assured of victory by God Israel's army made a sudden attack and routed the enemy. They annihilated the enemy, hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots. They captured Hazor and burned it, and killed King Jabin. They then proceeded to take all the cities, killing their kings and carrying off the plunder and livestock so as to dominate the entire northern region as they had previously done in the south. They "exterminated" everyone without mercy "as the Lord had commanded". Then Joshua destroyed the Anakites from the hill country totally destroying them and their towns, apart from some survivors who remained in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. Thus Joshua took the whole land and divided it up with the Israelites according to their tribal division, and Israel enjoyed peace.

Men's Fellowship

I gave the study in the men's fellowship group meeting on Tuesday night which had 12 men present. The study was on the joy in serving Jesus from Philippians 4:4 and Nehemiah 8:10, focusing on joy in fellowship and joy in suffering for Jesus. The meeting was led by school teacher Claudivan and Dedé led 2 songs at the beginning. Ministry amongst men is an important work as evangelism of men is so challenging in Brazil. 

Yesterday afternoon we had a very good meeting with Pastor Maesio and his wife Fia from our church up in the mountains at Teixeira. We discussed matters linked to their church and problems being encountered and gave them advice. We praise God that the church is going well. It was going to their church to preach last October that we had our head-on collision.

Liz went to the women's fellowship last night where there were about 20 women present. She said it was a good meeting.

I have been preparing sermons. One for this Saturday at Green Pastures, then another for next Tuesday in the town of São Mamede and then another for a week on Saturday in the town of Tavares, about a 2-hour drive west of Patos. Your prayers are valued.

Joshua 10 (résumé): The Sun stands still

 Next the kings of the Amorites - Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon joined forces to attack Gibeon which were now an integrated people with Israel having made a mutual peace treaty. So the Gibeonites sent to ask help from Joshua who sent his entire army in response, and they won a resounding victory. As the defeated army fled God sent a storm of hailstones on them which killed more than with the sword! And Joshua asked God to make the sun and moon stand still so as to prolong the day for Israel to finish off their enemy, and this is what happened. (The text says that this was a citation from the Book of Jashar which makes things a little unclear)

In view of their defeat the 5 kings went and hid in a cave where Joshua trapped them with rocks before killing them and hanging them on trees. Then the Israelites went on to defeat all the southern cities of Canaan at Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron and Debir subduing everything from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. Everywhere they conquered the Israelites were ruthless leaving no survivors and destroying all who breathed as God had commanded.  

Deaconess Found

I'm thrilled to report that our deaconess Claudenusia, of our Teixeira church, has been found live and well in the town of Brejinho in the state of Pernambuco. Thank you for praying. The local pastor Maésio and his wife Fia have been to visit her and are seeking to help her and her family.

It was lovely that a lady especially went to our church on Sunday to tell us how well she had been treat by our grandson John David at the clinic he was working at as an intern. He will graduate as a medical doctor in June. She emphasized that he will be a wonderful doctor thanks to his caring polite manner. This comes after John David's supervising doctor at the clinic posted on Instagram that he had been the best intern she had ever had! We naturally are very pleased by these warm compliments. May John David always be a competent, humble and caring doctor!   

Today is my sister Joy's 70th birthday! Happy birthday! 😀 Joy lives in Woburn Green, High Wycombe. I clearly remember going to see her for the first time at the maternity hospital with my Dad. 

This blog was read 4,445 times last month. We only received 158 mm of rain in March making a total for the year of 348 mm. This is extremely low as we need about 1,000 mm in the rainy season in the first half of the year. Please pray!

Our projects team has been distributing hair sheep from our 4-Legs Project at the indigenous village of Jatobá in the municipality of Carnaubeira da Penha in the state of Pernambuco.

Excellent Service

Last night the Sunday night main service of the week was really blessed of the Lord and we had a full church. I led the service and young lawyer and Bible College graduate Murilo preached very well on 'Reconciliation' from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

Our weekend was overshadowed by the disappearance of 38-year-old deaconess Claudenusia from our Teixeira church up in the mountains. She is married and the mother of 3 children aged 16, 13 and 9. She left her home on foot on Saturday morning and has not returned. She suffers with severe depression. She has been sighted in the neighbouring state of Pernambuco at Brejinho. Please pray! 🙏

QPR were beaten on Saturday at Stoke 3 x 1 and are now 15th in the Championship. They have only managed 1 point from their last 5 matches! 😖    

Pastoral Meeting

On Thursday afternoon Liz and I had a lovely meeting with our co-pastor Rafael to discuss a variety of pastoral issues that I can't go into here. It was an excellent meeting discussing members of the flock, the on-going work of the church and its various ministries. 

On Thursday evening I led the prayer meeting and Bible study and the praise and worship was led by Erika, Rogério and Netinho. Vasti and Espedita brought solos, Deborah Maria, Madá, and others brought Bible verses and Pastor Rafael brought the study on Micah 3:8-12. It was a nice service.

I have just eaten a Guava for my morning snack. 😋

I went for a walk at Green Pastures and saw a Great Kiskadee which always reminds me of my late friend Ken Rashleigh as this was the first bird he saw when he came to Brazil, and was he happy! I also saw Red-cowled Cardinals and Guira Cuckoos. Our Cockatiels have a nest and one chick has hatched so far.  

Last night we had a good meeting with young lawyer Murilo who is part of the ministry team in Patos. We had a good chat about the work of the Lord which was very positive.

Joshua 9 (résumé): The Gibeonite Deception

As word spread west of the Jordan about the conquests of Jericho and Ai by Israel most of the native ethnic groups west of the Jordan sought to create an alliance to defend themselves, but the Ebionites had an alternative deception plan which worked. For the Ebionites sent a delegation to the Israelites in order to make a peace treaty with them by pretending to be a people from afar off. The Ebionite delegation dressed as if they had been travelling from a distant country and everything they carried with them was old, torn and cracked. The ruse worked and Joshua made a peace treaty with them ratified by oath.

3 days later the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites were in fact their neighbours and were angry, but there was nothing they could do about it as they had sworn an oath. Therefore the Israelites could not attack the Gibeonites, but Joshua cursed them making them serve always as woodcutters and watercarriers for the house of God and for the community perpetually.

White Rats

On Tuesday night I travelled the half hour journey to hold a street service at São Mamede with the Patos men's fellowship. On the way I had a nice chat to one of the men, Marcio, about his work for the private university UNIFIP where he cares for all the experimental Wistar white rats used there for teaching and research. It was very interesting and it was lovely to see his dedication and care for his work. His wife Jacyara and his daughter Mariana also work at the university. 

The service was lovely. As soon as I got there a little lady asked for prayer and I had a chat to her and prayed for her. Chief of the Police Esau led the service which had multiple participations from Dodora, Giulia, Matheus, Paulo Silas, Josué, Dedé and Chico. I brought a short word on Joshua 1:5 and co-pastor Rafael brought the main message about gratitude to God. There were about 40 people at the service and the street was completely blocked off while it took place. A special little service for children was also led by Rebeca inside the house.

I have started reading a book given to me by my granddaughter Louisa called 'The Murder Game' by Tom Hindle. 

Joshua 8 (résumé): Ai destroyed

With the problem of Achan dealt with God told Joshua to attack the city of Ai again, only this time victory was guaranteed. God told Joshua to attack with the whole army this time using ambush tactics. Joshua sent 30,000 men in the night to go round the back of Ai and hide. In the morning Joshua attacked with 5,000 men at the front and lured the men of Ai to run after them as they withdrew. When they had got far enough away then the 30,000 hidden men were given the signal to attack and they were able to take the city with ease and set it on fire. Then the 5,000 Israelites who had been retreating started to attack as the 30,000 men in the city attacked from the other side. The men of Ai were thus annihilated leaving neither survivor of fugitive. A total of 12,000 men and women were killed that day, but God allowed them to keep the livestock and plunder this time. They took the king of Ai and hung him on a tree before throwing down his body at sunset and covering it with a pile of rocks.

Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal using uncut stones, and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings unto God. Joshua copied on stone the law of Moses, and afterwards he read the law to all the people with half of them on Mount Gerizim and half on Mount Ebal.

Joshua 7 (résumé): Achan's Sin

God forbid the taking of spoil from the conquering of Jericho, but Achan, of the tribe of Judah, disobeyed. Achan kept a beautiful robe from Babylonia, 2.3 kilos of silver and 0.6 kilos of gold and this severely angered God, who withdrew his backing of Israel as a result. So it was that when the over confident Israelite army sent just 3,000 men to try and conquer the city of Ai they were routed and repelled losing 36 men in the battle. Joshua was shocked and dismayed so he went to ask God for the reason for the defeat. God told Joshua of the sin in the camp and that it would have to be discovered and dealt with for things to be able to return to normal. So Joshua selected different clans and families by lot and through this means identified the culprit Achan who confessed his sin. Achan was stoned to death together with his family, livestock, tent and the spoil from Jericho which he had kept. Then they were all burnt and covered with a memorial pile of rocks to abate the anger of God. 

Friends Service

 I led the main service of the week on Sunday night and our daughter Sacha, who is a teacher and in her final year of Bible College, preached an excellent, concise and crisp Gospel message on John 3:16. The service was a 'Friends service' when the church invites their friends to come to church. About 30 friends came and heard the Gospel on a night when the church was packed out to capacity with extra chairs put in the aisle. After the service the youth sold hot dogs and coke to raise money for their youth conference to be held in June at Green Pastures. It was a lovely and blessed evening.

Today is our eldest daughter Deborah's birthday and we wish her many happy returns of the day! Deborah is a Veterinary Doctor who works tirelessly to care for the stray dogs of Patos, and she also is an excellent English language teacher at the Cultura Inglesa school. 

Our globe-trotting 23-year-old lawyer grandson Arthur is off on one of his trips today to spend the week in São Paulo going to a music festival, a classical music concert and other cultural visits. Have a good trip Arthur! In April he will be going to the USA, Japan and South Korea. 

Liz has been doing a lot of counselling. She is an extraordinary counsellor with great empathy. Please remember Liz in your prayers as she quietly does this labour of love, often at unearthly hours. 

Joshua 6 (résumé): The Fall of Jericho

Jericho was totally shut up within its walls to try and withstand Israel's imminent attack, but God assured Joshua of victory. God told the Israelites to march round the city for 6 days once every day, with armed men at the fore, 7 priests with the ark of the covenant and trumpets, followed by the army. Then on the 7th day they were to march round Jericho 7 times, then the priests would blast on their trumpets and the people would shout. This was followed by the collapse of the city wall after which the Israelites attacked and killed everyone inside except Rahab and her family, and they killed all the livestock too. They then burnt the city but put all the gold, silver, bronze and iron articles into the treasury of the Lord's house. Rahab and her family became part of the Israelite community.

Joshua 5 (résumé): Circumcision at Gilgal

 When the Amorite and Canaanite kings heard about how the Israelites had crossed the Jordan they were in fear and trembling. 

Then God instructed Joshua to have all the men who had not yet been circumcised to carry out this act as a preparation for battle and a renewing of the covenant with him. 

After the men had recovered from circumcision all the Israelites celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and they ate some of the produce of the land. The divine provision of manna ended on the following day.

Nearing Jericho, as Israel prepared to begin their conquest of Canaan, Joshua was met by a man who defined himself as the "commander of the army of the Lord". This clearly was a theophany as Joshua was told to remove his sandals as he was standing on holy ground, as happened with Moses in Exodus 3:5. Blair says that "this was none other than the pre-existent Son of God". The message was clearly that with God commanding their battles victory would be guaranteed. 

Joshua 4 (résumé): Jordan crossing memorials

When everyone had crossed the Jordan God told Joshua to chose 12 tribal representatives to each get a stone from where the priests had stood in the river with the ark of the covenant, and these stones were later set up as a memorial of the miraculous crossing at Gilgal. It would also seem that Joshua himself also set up a 12-stone memorial right in the middle of the Jordan where the priests had stood (Blair), but this to me is not clear. These memorials were to be commemorations of the Jordan crossing for future generations. Then as soon as the priests finally left the river the waterflow returned to normal. Israel was well prepared with 40,000 men armed for battle. 

Joshua 3 (résumé): Crossing the Jordan

Early in the morning the Israelites set off from Shittim and camped for 3 days right on the banks of the Jordan. Joshua told the people that their cue to cross the Jordan would be when they saw the priests carrying the ark of the covenant which they should follow at a distance of about 900 metres. Then Joshua told the people to consecrate themselves in preparation for the following day. 

So Joshua commanded the priests to go with the ark of the covenant into the river, and when they touched the water's edge the river stopped flowing so that the Israelites could cross into Canaan on dry land whilst the priests stood in the middle of the river. The entire nation of Israel crossed over the Jordan opposite Jericho ready to drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.

Wild Cats

This week the researchers from the University of the State of Maranhão, which is the northernmost state of northeast Brazil, came back to Green Pastures to change the batteries and memory cards in their 12 automatic camera traps which they have spread out all round our nature reserve. They come every 3 months and are very pleased with how many wild cats there are at Green Pastures which is the objective of their research. 

Last night I led the weekly service at Green Pastures and on the way there I saw a fox and a burrowing owl. Fábio led the worship and young lawyer and Bible College graduate Murilo brought a good word from Ephesians 5:14-17. Josué, Paulo Silas, Fred, Dodora, Nega and the group of 9 sisters, and Júlio also took part. It was a nice service. 

A native wild flower at Green Pastures

Joshua 2 (résumé): Rahab and the Spies

Prior to entering Canaan Joshua sent in 2 spies to do reconnaissance on the land, especially focusing on Jericho. The men fulfilled their mission and stayed at the house of a prostitute named Rahab, but the spies were seen entering her house so the King of Jericho sought them there. Rahab however hid the spies on the roof and told the King's search party that the spies had left Jericho at dusk, just before the gates closed, but that if they were quick they could still catch them!  

Then Rahab went up to the roof before the spies went to sleep for the night and told them of her faith in the Lord and that she knew that God would give the land to the Israelites. She told of how impressed everyone was by their deliverance via the Red Sea and how too they had defeated the kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan. She then interceded for herself and her family to receive protection when the invasion came and this the spies agreed to telling her to hang a red cord in her window as a means of identification when the Israelites took the city and the land. As her house was part of the city wall she was able to help the spies escape after their stay at her house using a rope from her window. The spies were able to safely return to Joshua with an encouraging report of how the Canaanites were in fear and trembling at the thought of the Israelite's imminent attack. 

Rahab became a very important person in the history of God's people. She was the mother of Boaz who married Ruth. She was the great-great grandmother of King David, and she was listed as one of the ancestors of Jesus in Matthew 1:5!

Mid-week Service

I led last night's mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and co-pastor Rafael brought the study on Micah 3:1-7. We had a nice time of prayer together with various brothers and sister leading in prayer. João Filho and Davi led the worship and Espedita and Vasti sang solos. It was a blessed service.

We've been serving the Lord together in north-east Brazil for 53 years. Thank you for your prayers and support.

I went for a nice walk at Green Pastures where we saw 3 six-banded Armadillos and lots of Red-cowled Cardinals. I also saw Striped Cuckoos, Guira Cuckoos, Rufous-browed Peppershrikes, Southern Wrens and Picui Ground Doves. The rain situation has improved with rain every day over the past week producing a total of 137 mm of rain.

Football Pitch

This week we are working on cleaning up the Green Pastures' football pitch. Lots of weeds have grown up there with the rains and we need to get it up to scratch for the Men's Retreat there, with 120 men from Campina Grande, at the beginning of May. Then it will be used again in June at the Youth Conference with 250 young people expected. Please pray for the retreat and conference.

I have just eaten a nice slice of watermelon for my morning snack together with a mug of tea. 😋

Liz and I went to the dentist and each had a filling done, so I have survived the dentist for another year! 😁

I think this pair of Cavies fell out over something!

On Monday it rained another 25 mm at Green Pastures and yesterday it rained 16 mm. The rains are improving!

Last night the Patos Men's Fellowship had our weekly meeting and it was very good. Especially good was the time of sharing near the end. The meeting was led by Chief of Police Esau. Please pray for him with his great responsibility.

Joshua 1 (résumé): The Lord commands Joshua

We have completed the 5 books of the Pentateuch and we now move into the historical books starting with the book of Joshua. The main figure to date in the Biblical narrative, Moses, has just died and now God commissions Joshua to take his place as the leader of Israel. God tells Joshua to get ready to cross the River Jordan and possess the land of Canaan saying that the Israelite territory will spread from the River Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and from the Negev Desert in the south up to the Lebanon mountains in the north. God promises to always be with Joshua as he had been with Moses, saying that he will make him invincible. God tells Joshua to always be courageous and strong. 

So Joshua called the officers and told them to prepare for action because 3 days hence they will all cross the Jordan to possess the Promised Land. He also reminded the Reubenites, the Gadites and half the tribe Manasseh that although they had opted for land east of the Jordan in the agreement made with Moses in Numbers 32, they had promised to fight alongside the rest of Israel to conquer Canaan. This the two and a half tribes promised to do.

Anteater

Francisco who looks after Green Pastures tells me that he recently saw another Anteater. I have seen, photographed and filmed one. They are beautiful animals, though one attacked and injured my late father-in-law Pastor Frank Dyer many years ago. I went walking with Francisco on Saturday morning and saw a wild Cavy, a Rock Cavy and a Fox. I also saw a variety of birds like a Striped-Cuckoo, White-tipped Dove, Scaled Dove, White-naped Jay, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Campo Troupial, Guira Cuckoo, Greater Ani and Chalk-browed Mockingbird. It rained 21 mm on Friday night but the lake is bone dry. Please pray for rain.

The colours of nature in our rainy season

QPR drew at home against the league leaders Leeds 2 x 2 on Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon Liz took Linda and Josinete to Jozilene's Baby Shower held at Green Pastures. Jozilene is expecting twin girls in June and we are very happy for her and her husband Toinho. Jozilene used to live at Green Pastures where I conducted their wedding 10 years ago.

Our granddaughter Beatriz (Bia) won another bronze medal in the Paraíba State Table Tennis championship under-19 category held in Patos this time round. 

Last night I led the main service of the week in Patos and I preached too a sermon entitled: 'On the Banks of the Jordon - Praise, Love God, Teach your children, and never forget God'! This was from Deuteronomy 6:1-9. It was a lovely service with a full church.

Yesterday we had our best rain of the rainy season with 59 mm falling at Green Pastures, after 8 mm the night before. Praise the Lord, but please keep praying!

Acrocorinth

Our grandson Lucas continued his history studies in Greece visiting the Acrocorinth which is a hill with the ruins of a castle which overlooks the ancient city of Corinth, to which the Apostle Paul sent his 2 epistles to the Corinthians in the years 51 and 57. How wonderful that Lucas has had this opportunity to walk in Paul's footsteps this week. He has now flown home to England. 

Our 23-year-old grandson John David will graduate in João Pessoa as a medical doctor in June. At the moment he is doing 3 months practical training at a clinic in Patos prior to returning for training next month in surgical work, taking him to his graduation. Please pray for John David. 

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study with my assistant pastor Rafael giving the study on the last 2 verses of Micah 2. Marina and Davi led the worship, Vasti sang a solo and Bible verses were read by Deborah Maria, Samana and Maria. 

Yesterday morning I gave a Biblical reflection to the 'Young at Heart' group from Romans 12:9-13 and it was a lovely time of fellowship together. They served up delicious savoury and sweet snacks cooked in the Care Centre's 'Mum's Kitchen' by the sisters Marcia and Josinete who run these mornings. 'Mum's Kitchen' is the new kitchen we have at the Care Centre donated by Liz's brother Sam, in Switzerland, in memory of their mother and missionary Ivy Dyer. Prior to my participation in the meeting a sister from the church called Thayse gave the ladies a lesson about skin care with the application of creams in everyone which they really enjoyed.

Last night I spent a lovely evening discussing theology with Murilo. He is a 22-year-old recently qualified lawyer and Bible College graduate who regularly preaches in Patos. The idea is for us to discuss matters that we don't normally get to discuss.

São Mamede

 São Mamede is a town about half an hour's drive north-east of Patos and every fortnight I go there with the Patos Men's Fellowship to hold a Gospel street meeting. On Tuesday I preached there on Jesus healing both a leper and a paralytic from Mark 1:40 to 2:12. Chief of the Police Esau led the service and songs were sung by Giulia, Flávio, Paulo Silas and Josué. I prayed for José, in front of whose house we hold the meetings, who was operated on for skin cancer at the weekend, and I prayed for 4 more people for whom I received prayer requests. It was a lovely service.

Sadly QPR lost yet again on Tuesday 2 x 1 away to Middlesbrough. 😏

Last night Liz and I had a meeting with the leaders of the Pastor Frank Dyer School here in Patos which is our school which constantly wins first place from the Ministry of Education's IDEB which is the Brazilian version of Ofsted. We discussed with the head-teacher Gerlânia the return of various workshops for adolescents as from next week including mathematics, chess, physical education and sand-football. We also discussed the creation of a play area for the children at the school for which the town council has promised the building materials and for which we have to pay for the labour. It was a very good meeting.

Areopagus

Today my grandson Lucas has stood at the Areopagus in Athens, Greece, where the Apostle Paul preached about the "unknown God" in Acts 17:16-34. What a wonderful historical experience for this young man who is very keen on history. May he follow in Paul's footsteps to be a preacher of the Gospel bringing people to a living knowledge of the "unknown God" who can be known through Jesus Christ!

Sadly QPR lost yet again on Saturday 1 x 0 away to West Brom. 😖

I saw a Burrowing Owl on my way to preach at Green Pastures and then I stupidly parked the car underneath a tree near the meeting hall. After the service the car was covered by bird droppings from the roosting birds in the tree! It rained 9 mm during the service but we pray for much more rain! It rained a further 12 mm on Sunday night.

I led the meeting on Sunday night and Pastor Rafael preached on Mathew 15:21-28 about the great faith of a Canaanite woman. The church was full and the service was blessed.

It is lovely to hear the Southern Wren singing outside my office window and to see beautifully coloured butterflies feeding on the flowers of the climbing plant we have in our garden.

Last night Liz went to the Monday night prayer meeting which had 11 present. There were also 3 of the youth praying in their own prayer meeting. 🙏

Greece

Our 17-year-old grandson Lucas, who lives in the UK, is now in Greece on an educational visit in history with his Queen Mary's College. He will be visiting the Temple of Poseidon, Theatre of Dionysus, Acropolis, Areopagus, Pnyx, Koile, Philopappus, Byzantine churches, Delphi, Olympia, Epidaurus, Acro Corinth etc. 

Over the carnival period from March 1st to 5th alternative camps were held by our churches, on top of the 45th one at Green Pastures, at Juru (10th), at Diamante (8th), at Manaira (2nd) and at Flores (10th). All places report really blessed camps with 10 young people making commitments to Christ at Juru and one being baptized at Flores. Praise God!

On Friday afternoon I prepared a message for the Green Pastures church: Jesus - the Lamb of God (John 1:29) / Jesus - the Son of God (João 1:34) / Jesus - the Teacher of God (João 1:38).

Last night I led the service and preached at the Green Pastures Church. It was a great service. The 4 people recently baptized at the carnival camp gave lovely testimonies and the praise and worship was led by sister Nega.

Names to your comments

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on this blog. To comment please click on the 'comments' section at the bottom of this post. Then click on the little arrow, before clicking on 'name', and put your name. Then write your comment. The comment will only appear when I have given it the OK as this avoids people trying to sell things or post pornography via the blog as sometimes happens.

Please pray for rain for us. The situation here is serious as we are in the rainy season and it is not raining!

We are receiving very positive feedback from those who were at the Carnival Camp. Many are telling of life transforming encounters with God. Praise the Lord! 🙌 One person said that the camp had been "a watershed experience" in her life.

I have finished reading 'Seven days that divide the world: the beginning according to Genesis and Science' by John C. Lennox. I found the book very interesting and challenging. 

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study with Michelle and Davi leading the worship. Adriana, Romildo, Espedita and Gilmarco gave lovely words of testimony about the Carnival Camp and Pastor Rafael brought the study from Micah 2:6-11. It was a good meeting.  

Carnival Camp (part 2)

Monday night's service at the camp was excellent with pastor Wostenes preaching on unity in the church being a result of revival and renewal. He also preached on Tuesday morning on satisfaction and fulfillment in God. The final service of the camp had Missionary Gleydice preaching on evangelistic zeal being a symptom of revival and renewal.

So we came this Wednesday morning to the end of another wonderful camp. It really was outstanding. The praise and worship was great, the work with the children was brilliant, the sport, swimming and games were very good, the food was delicious and the ministry of God's word was of the highest caliber from beginning to end.

It was lovely to see the children so enjoying the camp and playing intensely in the tree house, in the playground and in the swimming pool. The children had their own services which were really blessed.

It was great too to have fellowship with elder Alessandro and his wife and deaconess Talita who now lead the little rural church at Juá and the new church plant at Salgado de São Felix. Please pray for them.

While we were away at the camp I see that a Brazilian film won an Oscar for the first time for the film 'I'm still here' which is a true and sad story from the days of the military coup back in the 60s and 70s. I haven't seen the film yet but I am told it is very good and very moving.

I have finished reading 'Responsible Grace - John Wesley's Practical Theology' by Randy L. Maddox. It was a bit disappointing but alright.

Carnival Camp

We are now at the half-way point in our 45th Carnival Camp at Green Pastures and it is going very well indeed. On Saturday evening we had our initial fellowship meal which was followed by an excellent message in the opening service by Pastor Lindon Carlos from Imaculada. He preached from Habakkuk 3 on the need for revival and renewal.

The Sunday services were equally blessed with lovely ministry from Missionary Betânia. In the morning she spoke on the theme of revival and renewal through a greater hunger for the word of God, and at night she spoke on prayer in revival.

On Sunday afternoon we baptized 4 from the Green Pastures church: Fred, Marileide, Julio and Joana. It was a joyful afternoon.

This morning we had Missionary Gleydice preaching on repentance as a gateway to revival and renewal and this was excellent too.

QPR lost at home 2 x 1 to Sheffield United.

I have heard lots of Striped Cuckoos at Green Pastures and many duets by the Caatinga Cacholotes. I also saw a Green-barred Woodpecker.

Venezuelans

To the north of Brazil is Venezuela which has long been in political and social upheaval under dictator President Maduro. Brazil officially has 94,726 Venezuelans immigrants who have fled their country in order to survive, but I suspect the number is far higher. In Patos, for example, you see them begging at different sets of traffic lights. They have very difficult lives. 

Brazilians are asking me what happens in the UK when someone dies. Well there is no wake to start with. Whereas in Brazil when someone dies there is a wake and then the burial normally takes place within about 24 hours, in the UK few view the body and the funeral takes place weeks later.

On Thursday night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and it was lovely to have 14-year-old Letícia playing the guitar for the first time for the praise. She did very well. Pastor Rafael gave the study on Micah 2:1-5.

Today sees the start of our 45th Carnival Camp at Green Pastures. The speaker in tonight's opening service the speaker will be Pastor Lindon Carlos from Imaculada. Tomorrow the speaker both morning and night will be Betânia who was our missionary to Uruguay some years back. I will be leading the camp and the services. Liz will be coordinating the whole camp's logistics of food, cleaning, canteen etc. Please pray!

We are in the rainy season and the average rainfall for the month of February at Green Pastures over the last 25 years has been 137 mm, whereas this February saw just 25 mm of rain! Please pray for rain as we now need a bumper month of March to make up for the very poor February.

Last month this blog was read 6,019 times. Thank you. That is 215 per day.

Action Child

Our little action schools are back in action for 2025 remembering that the school year here doesn't run from September to July as in the UK, but follows the calendar year with 2 semesters (February to the end of June + August to December). On Tuesday afternoon I had a good meeting with our schools team coordinators. Our little school at Green Pastures has closed this year as the region has run out of little children!

On Tuesday night I spent 45 minutes at the wake of Geraldo Batista. A wake here is held with the deceased person lying in an open coffin and people come in, look at the person, and then give their condolences to the relatives. People at the wake drink tea and coffee. The wake was held at our church.

On Wednesday morning at 9 am I conducted Geraldo's funeral service at the church followed by the committal at the central cemetery of São Miguel where we had to clamber over tombstones to get to the place where he was buried. Everything went off well.

It is amazing how adapted to urban conditions the Ruddy Ground-Dove is. I saw them in the centre of town near the cemetery and they are always around our house. They appear to be almost as plentiful in Patos as the House Sparrow. They have milk chocolate coloured brown wings and body with a grey head.

Sunday night service

In Brazil our main service of the week is on a Sunday night at 6:30 pm. In the morning we have Sunday School for all ages at 9:30 am. I led the Sunday night service and young lawyer and Bible College graduate Murilo preached on Matthew 16:13-20. It was an excellent sermon. The praise and worship was led by Sacha, Marina and Fabio on vocals, Rogério on keyboard, Rogaciano on guitar, Ricardinho on bass guitar and Netinho on drums. This group is very good indeed. It was a lovely service with a full church.

On my trip to Ipueira I saw 3 species of birds I hadn't seen for some time. I saw Yellow-chinned Spinetails, a pair of Blue-black Grassquits, and a pair of White-throated Seedeaters.

Today a university professor, Dr. Flávia Moura, is starting research at Green Pastures into termites. Her work, together with her team, will not disrupt the camp preparation as they will be out in the bush doing their work. This reminds me to ask you to please pray for the Carnival Camp which starts this Saturday. 🙏

I am very pleased to have completed my résumé of the Pentateuch. To cover all the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy took exactly 5 months. That's 187 chapters in 150 days which isn't bad with everything else I have on. 

Linda is our cook at Green Pastures and her husband Geraldo has just died of cancer a few hours ago. Liz went and broke the news to her. So I will have a funeral to conduct between now and tomorrow. Please pray.

Deuteronomy 34 (résumé): The Death of Moses

So Moses climbed Mount Nebo, as the Lord had commanded, from where he saw the promised land which had been first promised to Abraham hundreds of years earlier. There at 120 years old Moses died and was buried in Moab, though exactly where nobody knew. When Moses died his eyes were not weak nor had his strength gone. The Israelites mourned Moses' death for a month. It was then Joshua who took up the reins of leadership. He was "filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him". The book ends remarking that no prophet greater than Moses had ever lived.

Deuteronomy 33 (résumé): Moses blesses the Tribes

Moses is about to die so he gives his parting blessings upon the tribes of Israel, although he misses out on Simeon. Moses starts by exalting the glory and majesty of God before blessing each tribe. He starts with a very brief blessing upon Reuben in just 11 words. Next comes Judah calling upon God to help them against all their foes in 27 words. Then comes Levi who has a longer blessing of a full 4 verses which includes a blessing on their skills and the work of their hands. Next Benjamin's blessing has 27 words and focuses resting secure in God. Then come 4 long verses in the blessing upon Joseph with strong environmental comments about dew, deep waters, sun, moon, mountains, hills, earth and burning bush. Then come the briefest of blessings on Ephraim (7 words), Manasseh (6 words) and Zebulun (10 words). These are followed by the blessing on Issachar who "will feast on the abundance of the seas". This is followed by a 2 verse blessing upon Gad who is likened to a lion and then a 13 word blessing on Dan who is likened to a lion's cub. Next comes a full verse of blessing upon Naphtali who "is abounding in the favour of the Lord" and finally Asher saying that his strength will equal his days. Moses closes by pointing all to God "who rides on the heavens to help you" ... saying "blessed are you oh Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?"

Deuteronomy 32 (résumé): The Song of Moses

This chapter contains an anthem-like poem which is the Song of Moses. It is a prophetic testimony lamenting Israel's eventual unfaithfulness to God and his judgement upon them. The song commences by praising God for his justice, faithfulness and greatness. It describes how God cared for Israel making it a great nation like an eagle nurtures her young. Yet despite God's wonderful care Israel would forget God and ignore his guidance, turning instead to pagan gods which greatly anger the Lord kindling a fire of wrath which would burn to Sheol. Therefore God said he would send curses on the Israelites: calamities, famine, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, venomous vipers, and violence. Then the song goes on to criticize Israel's senseless attitudes in which they fail to think about the long term. Yet it says that the Lord will judge his people and have compassion on those who love him. And the song ends exalting the greatness of God which is utterly superior to all the gods! God puts to death and brings to life, he wounds and heals and nobody can free from his hand. Moses and Joshua spoke all these words to Israel exhorting them to take great heed to the message of the song. For these "are not just idle words - they are life"!

On that same day God told Moses to go up Mount Nebo where he would die. Before dying he would overlook the promised land which he would not enter because he broke faith with God many years earlier at the waters of Meribah.

Deuteronomy 31 (résumé): Moses nears the end

Moses, at 120 years of age, knew he was reaching the end his life and he knew that he would not enter Canaan because God had said so. So Moses called Joshua to take his place telling him to be strong and courageous knowing that God would be with him. 

Then Moses wrote down the law and gave it to the priests saying that they should read it to the people every 7th year during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Then God told Moses to present himself with Joshua at the Tent of Meeting and there God told them that the people would soon prostitute themselves with pagan gods after entering Canaan, and this would make him very angry and would bring disasters and difficulties upon them. After this God told Moses to write down a song and teach it to the Israelites, and make them sing it, so as to be a testimony against them when they eventually rebel against God's law. God told Joshua to be strong and courageous as Moses had said previously. Moses then again predicted rebellion by the people after he has died.

Hornets

Hornets (Maribondo) are large dangerous insects and widespread here. They are brown, have large wings, and legs and a sting hanging beneath them like a lowered plane undercarriage. They are about the size of an old 50 pence piece. (I don't know if they still exist?!) I once was stung by 3 of them on my neck in an old disused farm house and it sure hurt! Hornets make nests out of earth on the walls of houses and one place they like to use is inside electrical sockets. As we prepare Green Pastures for the Carnival Camp next week we are having to clear out the electrical sockets so that they will work, because you can't plug anything in if the socket is full of earth!

Yesterday morning at 8 am Liz went to Ana Karla's birthday breakfast. Ana Karla is a member of the Patos church. It all went off beautifully.

I have just had an avocado pear smoothy. 😋

Sadly QPR lost 2 x 1 yesterday away to Portsmouth. 😔

Yesterday I travelled to Ipueira with Deacon Dedé, his wife Geralda, their daughter Maria Fernanda and Sister Madá. We had a nice time sharing the word of God, praising the Lord and praying. It was lovely to see a couple who I baptized many years ago still going on with God and firm in the faith.

Deuteronomy 30 (résumé): Prosperity after Repentance

Moses now says that if after suffering curses because of disobedience, and being dispersed among the nations, Israel repents and comes back to the Lord, then God will restore their fortunes and gather them again from around the world. Repentant Israel will be made more prosperous and more numerous than ever, and God will turn the tables putting the curses on the enemy. Faithful Israel will experience prosperity again under the delight of the Lord as they keep God's commands and love him with heart and soul. 

In the second part of this chapter Moses goes on to stress that the option Israel is facing is a matter of life and death. He emphasizes that obedience to God is within their reach because the word is near them; it is in their mouth and heart to be obeyed. Moses says the choice could not be more clear as it is a choice between life and prosperity and death and destruction! God's command is to love him with everything, walk in his ways and obey his commands. Moses challenges Israel to always choose life so that they and their children may live!

Deuteronomy 29 (résumé): Renewal of the Covenant

Moses now summons all the Israelites to gather in Moab to renew and reinforce their covenant with the Lord. He reminds them of all God had done for them giving them victory over Pharoah and guiding them through the desert when neither their clothes of shoes wore out during 40 years. He also recalled the victories over King Sihon and King Og. He then exhorts the people to follow the terms of the covenant and renew it before the Lord, confirming that the Lord alone is their God. He entreats them to never go after the gods of other nations. If they disobey then the curses from the Torah will fall upon them and the land will become desolate as happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. In this case other nations will realize that things have got so bad for Israel owing to their abandonment of the covenant. 

Deuteronomy 28 (résumé): Blessings & Curses

Moses now shows how much God will bless the people if they fully obey the Lord, and on the other hand how much he will curse them if they are unfaithful. He says obedience will mean blessing everywhere, with human and animal fertility plus productive crops. He says that obedience means victory over enemies, blessings on the barns, abundant prosperity, and plentiful rain in the season. With obedience God will make Israel the head and not the tail - the top and not the bottom!

On the other hand disobedience would mean comprehensive cursing in the city or country, upon the womb, crops and livestock. It would mean being cursed at all times and in everything. Moses says that if the people forsake the Lord he will plague everyone with diseases plus scorching heat and drought! In this case Israel's enemies will defeat them and their carcasses will be food for the vultures! Disobedience and unfaithfulness will result in ill health such as tumours, festering sores, and the incurable itch! The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confused minds. Without God everything will go wrong. You will be engaged to be married but another man will ravish the girl, you will build a house but not live in it, and you will plant a vineyard without enjoying its fruit. With unfaithfulness will come a decimation of the livestock and the sons and daughters will go abroad, and will be afflicted with boils from head to feet. Disobedience will lead to exilic and pagan experiences, and you will plant a lot but harvest little! The foreigner will rise up but unfaithful Israel will sink low. God will put an iron yoke on Israel and they will end up serving their enemies. Unfaithfulness will bring disaster for Israel's livelihoods and livestock as a foreign nation will dominate Israel. This nation will besiege Israel leading even to cannibalism as a means of survival! Mothers will even eat their afterbirths! Just as the Lord had pleasure in prospering faithful Israel so he will be pleased to ruin and destroy them in their unfaithfulness. And God will scatter Israel amongst the nations and they will end up as worthless slaves.

Deuteronomy 27 (résumé): Altar & Curses on the Mounts

Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the Israelites to make an altar on Mount Ebal after they have crossed the Jordan. They should write the law on the altar stones and sacrifice fellowship offerings eating and rejoicing in the Lord.

Then the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin shall stand on Mount Gerizim, and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali will stand on Mount Ebal. Then the Levites will recite loudly a series of curses and after each curse all the people shall say amen. Cursed is the man who carves images or idols, cursed is the man who dishonours his father or mother, cursed is the man who moves someone's boundary stone, cursed is the man who leads the blind astray, cursed is the man who withholds justice from the foreigner, orphan or widow, cursed is the man who has sex with his father's wife, cursed is the man who has sex with an animal, cursed is the man who has sex with his sister, cursed is the man who has sex with his mother-in-law, cursed is the man who kills his neighbour secretly, cursed is the man who takes a bribe to kill someone and cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of the law and carry them out.

Deuteronomy 26 (résumé): Firstfruits, Tithes & Commands

Moses now says that after possessing the land of Canaan the Israelites should offer to the Lord baskets of the firstfruits in gratitude to God whilst rehearsing all he had done for them delivering them from Egypt and bringing them to the promised land. Then in the third year in Canaan they should tithe their produce giving this to the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows. After doing this they were to declare before God that they had obeyed his commands and ask him to bless the ground where their crops grow. Finally Moses says that God says that if his people remain faithful to him he will bless their land, give them prosperity and honour them above all other nations.   

Deuteronomy 25 (résumé): More miscellaneous Laws

Moses now says that judges will decide disputes and order up to 40 lashes of a whip if necessary. He then says that you should not muzzle an ox that is treading the corn. He goes on to say that if a married man dies his brother should have children with the widow so as to continue the brother's name. If the brother refuses to do this the bride shall take him before the elders and take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and denounce him. Thus the man's line shall be known as the family of the unsandalled. 

If 2 men fight and a wife intervenes grabbing her husband's private parts then you must show her no pity and cut off her hand! Do not have differing measures and weights in your house because you must be accurate and honest. Finally Moses tells the Israelites to annihilate the Amalekites when in Canaan as retribution for them having attacked Israel shortly after they came out of Egypt.

Coup Plot

Brazil's previous president Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with an alleged coup plot, after losing the 2022 election, trying to stop the current president Lula taking up office by poisoning him and shooting dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. 

I have been preparing the Bible study for Thursday night and the sermon for next Tuesday in the town of São Mamede.

I have just eaten fried egg with yams. Delicious! 😋

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and I gave the study on "Living Water" from John 4:1-26. The praise and worship was led by Érika, Rogério e Netinho with special participations from Chico, Vasti and Espedita. It was a blessed service.

Deuteronomy 24 (résumé): Miscellaneous Laws

Moses says that if a married couple get divorced and the woman re-marries, then the original husband could not re-marry her if she ended up divorcing her second husband or if her second husband died. (strange law!) He also says that a newly wedded man must not do military or civic service for a year as he must focus on making his wife happy in a sort of prolonged honeymoon! He then says that millstones cannot be taken for security for a loan and kidnappers must be executed.

In the case of skin diseases, which were of great concern at the time, Moses says people must be careful to follow the priests' instructions on the matter. He also said that if someone made a loan he should not enter the person's house to go after the pledge, but should wait for it to be brought out to him and should never exploit the poor over loans. Wages to the poor must be paid daily.

Moses then says that fathers should not be put to death for their children or vice-versa. Neither should the foreigner or the orphan be deprived of justice, and never take a widow's cloak as a pledge. And at harvest time do not pick everything, but leave something for the foreigner, orphan and widow. 

Deuteronomy 23 (résumé): Exclusion from the Assembly

Nobody with crushed or cut off genitals may enter the assembly of the Lord. This was a protest against heathen cultic practices. Nor could anyone enter the assembly who was the fruit of an adulterous or incestuous relationship or marriage. No Ammonite or Moabite or their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord either. However the Edomites and Egyptians should be treat as friends and their third generation could enter the assembly.

When the Israelites went to war they should keep things pure and clean. If a man had a nocturnal emission he was to purify himself outside the camp during that day. People should have little shovels to cover their excrement when necessary. 

Runaway slaves should be helped and not oppressed. No Israelite man or woman should work as a cultic pagan temple prostitute. Do not charge interest on loans to your fellow Israelites, although you can charge foreigners. Take vows seriously and keep them before God. Upon entering someone's vineyard you can eat the grapes, but don't put them in your basket. So too when entering a cornfield pick corn but don't use a sickle. 

Deuteronomy 22 (résumé): Various Laws

Moses now gives a list of minor laws like keep your eye out for your neighbours stray animals and help them recapture them, or get the fallen ones back on their feet. Women must not wear men's clothing or vice versa. If you find a bird's nest with mother and young you can take the young but not the mother! When you build a new house make a parapet around the roof to avoid falls. Don't plant 2 kinds of seed in your vineyard, don't plough with an ox and a donkey, don't wear clothes made of wool and linen and put tassels on the 4 corners of your cloak.

Moses goes on to say that if a couple get married but the man finds that he dislikes the woman and so slanders her saying she hadn't been a virgin when they married, the matter will go before the elders. There the girl's parents will produce evidence that she had been a virgin showing a cloth stained by blood from the wedding night! In this case the man will be fined 1 kilo of silver which will be paid to the father, and the man will not be allowed to divorce the woman. However if the girl's virginity can't be proved then she will be stoned to death.

If a man is caught having sex with another man's wife they both must be put to death. If a man has sex with an engaged virgin both must die. She will die because she didn't scream for help and he will die for having violated somebody else's wife. But if a man rapes an engaged virgin only the man shall die as the girl had screamed for help out in the country where nobody heard her. If a man rapes a virgin who is not engaged he will pay a half kilo of silver fine, marry the girl, and never be allowed to divorce her. Finally Moses says that a man is not to marry his father's wife. 

Deuteronomy 21 (résumé): Atonement for unsolved murders

Moses says that if a dead body is found and nobody knows who the murderer is then the elders of the nearest town should take a heifer and break its neck in a valley after which priests will give a blessing. Then the elders will wash their hands over the heifer and declare that they had not killed or see killed the deceased. In this way the blood shed in the killing will be atoned for.

Moses says that if in battle someone fancies a beautiful woman it would be fine to take her as a wife. She would need to shave her head, trim her nails, change clothes and mourn her parents for a month. If the relationship didn't work out it could end, but she could not be sold as a slave.

Moses then goes on to emphasize the rights of the firstborn son. He says that in the case of polygamy and a man having 2 wives he couldn't swap the firstborn's birthright just because he preferred a particular mother. He says that independent of wifely preferences the firstborn son had to receive a double share of his father's wealth.

Moses follows this with drastic treatment of a stubborn and rebellious son saying that he must be stoned to death! Moses also says that in the case of a man being executed and hung on a tree, the dead body should not be left there overnight because he "who is hung on a tree is under God's curse".

Deuteronomy 20 (résumé): Going to War

Moses says that when Israel goes to war it should not be afraid even if the opposing army was greater. For God would be with his people to fight for them and give them victory.

Then preparing for battle Moses gives some exemptions (new house, new vineyard, new wife and no courage) of a compassionate nature so that nothing should distract the warriors from the objective of victory which is the Lord's.

Moses says that when preparing to attack a city Israel should give its inhabitants a chance to surrender in which case they would be Israel's slaves. However if they fight then the Israelites should lay siege to the city and kill all the men. However the woman, children, livestock and everything else will be taken as plunder.

Nevertheless in the case of the peoples in Canaan's land (Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) and their livestock everyone and everything was to be annihilated. 

Moses says that in the case of long term sieges they can chop down trees to help them, but should not use fruit trees.

Dentist

I went to the dentist's this week and I survived! 😁 The dentist's name is Dra. Sammia and she is excellent, being the dentist of the whole family. I hadn't been to the dentist since before the Covid pandemic, and I only had one big filling to do, so not bad! I did the filling without needing anesthetic which was good.

Last night there were 16 men at the Men's fellowship meeting which was led by chief of the Police Esau. It was a very good meeting. I gave the study on "Paul's Epistle of Joy - Philippians" and we had a good discussion about joy and happiness in the Lord.

This Saturday I will be travelling to Ipueira in Rio Grande do Norte State to encourage the Christians there. Please pray. 

Pastor Nemias is reporting a new church plant at the Sitio Mumbassa in the Municipality of Flores in Pernambuco State. Pastor Maésio is reporting that the church up in the mountains at Teixeira is going well and growing. Please pray for these churches and their pastors.

Deuteronomy 19 (résumé): Cities of Refuge + Witnesses

 Now Moses returns to the subject of cities of refuge in Canaan to receive accidental murderers or those guilty of manslaughter. It is strange how much text is dedicated to this subject in the Pentateuch and it would seem to have been a major problem. There were to be initially 3 cities of refuge with roads built to give good access to them, and there was a possibility of a further 3 such cities being established later. The moving of land markers was also prohibited. 

Moses then goes on to the subject of witnesses which must be at least 2 for any crime. If a witness proves to be a liar then he must be punished with exactly what he was advocating for the accused. Moses stipulates that the judges and priests must show no pity in such cases and retribution must be "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand and foot for foot"!

Deuteronomy 18 (résumé): Offerings for priests & levites

Moses goes on to remind everyone that in Canaan the priests and levites will not have their own land like the rest of Israel but they will live off the offerings made by the people (shoulder of the bulls or sheep + cheeks and inner parts), plus the firstfruits of corn, new wine and oil plus the first wool from sheep shearing.

Then Moses bans the imitation of the detestable customs of other nations such as infant sacrifice, divination, sorcery, witchcraft, casting spells or using mediums and spiritists to consult the dead.

Moses then says that God will raise up a new prophet like himself to communicate the word of the Lord whilst any false prophet who points to false gods must be put to death. 

Deuteronomy 17 (résumé): Capital punishment for pagan worshippers

 Moses now reminds Israelites to never offer sacrifices to God using animals with defects. He then went on to again prohibit pagan worship of the sun, moon, the stars or other gods. People caught practicing this by at least 2 witnesses would be stoned to death. 

Moses then says that when cases come before the courts which are very difficult the supreme court will be the priests. Their final word must be obeyed and implemented and any contempt of court would be punishable by death.

Then Moses envisaged the day when Israel would be ruled by a king. The king would have to be an Israelite, he should not have too many horses or too many wives (Solomon?!) and he should write out his own copy of the law and read it all his life. He should never over estimate himself. 

Deuteronomy 16 (résumé): Festivals

In this chapter Moses reminds the Israelites about their pilgrimage festivals with the Passover/Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. The instructions for all these festivals had been given in detail previously.

Then Moses told them to appoint judges for each tribe and town that God would give them in Canaan. He says that they should judge the people fairly avoiding partiality or bribery. They should "follow justice and justice alone".

At the end Moses makes yet another warning against idolatry which is one of the things most prohibited in the Pentateuch. 

Rain

Please pray for rain for us! We are in the rainy season but the rains have stopped falling and if they don't fall between now and April then it would be a catastrophe for the entire interior of northeast Brazil.

Last night I led the main service of the week in Patos. The praise was led by Fábio, Érika and João Filho backed by Rogério, Netinho e Ricardinho. The preacher was Pastor Rafael. A gift was given to our deaf pastor Luiz Carlos for his birthday and he cried with emotion. It was a good service.

Please pray for the Carnival Camp which starts a week on Saturday.

Maize cake

I have just eaten a slice of maize cake which was delicious. Dare I say that it was amazing! I wonder how the google translator will get on translating that pun to Portuguese! 😋😃

I have had my hair cut and I hope you like it? 👨

I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and Dedé led the praise and worship. Pastor Rafael gave the study from Micah 1:11-16.

A woman who killed 3 relatives by putting arsenic in a Christmas cake in the south of Brazil has been found dead in her prison cell. Probably their prison mates "suicided" her as prison wardens say it was probably suicide. 

Liz and I have just got back from an excellent journey to Campina Grande which is a 3 and a quarter hour drive east of Patos. We travelled there yesterday afternoon and had a lovely working meal in the evening with Pastor Wostenes, his wife Gleydice and a young couple called Thyago and Letícia who are potential workers. Then this morning we were joined by pastors Umbirajara, Matheus and wives for another great meeting. Both these meetings were of strategic importance for the work of EAB/ACEV and discussed plans for growth. Please pray.

Stopping for a drink on the way to Campina Grande we met our friend Sérgio who is a crippled beggar who sits on the pavement asking for help. His broad smile is always impressive! 😀 We always give him something.

The journey to Campina Grande means you climb the Santa Luzia mountain on the way where there is a big renewable energy farm with 136 wind turbines having a generating capacity of 471.25 MW. The wind turbines today were going like the clappers!

Yesterday QPR beat Derby 4 x 0 at home! 😄😎💪🙌

Deuteronomy 15 (résumé): The year for cancelling debts

This chapter shows great anti-poverty values focusing on social justice. For every 7th year was to be a year of cancelling debts for fellow Israelites. Obedience to God in this would lead to great national prosperity. Those better off are taught to not be "tight fisted" towards the poor. Rather they are to be generous to the poor and do so "without a grudging heart". 

Then too all Israelite slaves should be released on the 7th year of release and they should not be set free empty handed but should be given sheep, grain and wine. However if a slave has become attached to his master and family and doesn't want to leave, then his ear should be pierced as a sign of commitment and he or she will become servants for life. 

Finally in this chapter Moses reminds Israelites of their responsibility to give the firstborn of their herds and flocks to God. Any animal with a defect should be eaten and not sacrificed to God. However care should be taken not to eat blood. 

São Mamede

 On Tuesday night I travelled with the Patos Men's Fellowship to hold a street service in the town of São Mamede. It was a joy to share the Gospel in this needy place. It was great to hear young teenager Matheus playing the guitar and Paulo Silas and Josué sang solos. After the service two women came to speak to me. The first was Marlene who told me she had committed her life to Christ and wants to be baptized. The second called Denise told me she was re-dedicating her life to the Lord and wants to be part of our church. So praise the Lord for these fruits of our regular preaching of the Gospel in this place. Please pray for Marlene and Denise. 🙌

QPR lost away to Coventry on Tuesday 1 x 0 with the goal coming in the 94th minute! 😕 

Please pray for our Carnival Camp at Green Pastures which starts a fortnight this Saturday. May God bless all the participants with good fun, fellowship and teaching!

Liz went to the Women's Fellowship meeting last night and says it was good.

Sunday

 I led Sunday night's main service of the week and our daughter Sacha preached an excellent sermon on 'How is your heart'? from Mark 7:1-23. The praise and worship group (Sacha, Marina, Fábio, Rogerio, Ricardinho, Netinho and Rogaciano) introduced 2 new songs which were blessed and refreshing. We normally do 8 songs in the main service of the week. The service was a real blessing.

The yellow Great Kiskadee is singing loudly outside our house today.

Liz led the prayer meeting last night which was a blessing. Parallel to this the youth had their own prayer meeting. There was also a planning meeting of the children's ministry last night and a team went to hold a service on a farm near Green Pastures.

Lizards

Liz and I went for a nice long walk at Green Pastures on Friday afternoon and saw an abundance of Tropidurus hispidus and Tropidurus semitaeniatus lizards. We also saw Rock Cavies, Cavies and 4 wild tortoises. Bird life was also plentiful with Rufous-browed Peppershrikes, White-tipped Doves, Spotted Nothuras, White-naped Jays and Red-cowled Cardinals. Rufous-bellied Thrushes and Campo Troupials are nesting near the meeting hall, as when the rains start the birds start nesting as rain means an abundance of caterpillars and butterflies etc. for them to eat.

Yesterday afternoon Liz went to visit Vanessa who is a member of the Patos church and is not well. She lives in the village of Campo Comprido 8 km from Patos.

Last night I led the service at our Green Pastures church and I preached too on 'the law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ' (John 1:17). It was a lovely service with the praise led by Érika, Netinho and Rogério. Josué, Paulo Silas, Fred, Dodora, Fabricia and Julio also took part.

Last night too a youth group went to Ipueira in Rio Grande do Norte in support of Dedé and the Christians in Action group who go there weekly seeking to plant a church. We have 5 members there. Please pray for Ipueira. 

Deuteronomy 14 (résumé): Clean & unclean food

Moses starts this chapter condemning pagan self-mutilation practices for the dead because they must live as God's chosen people. From this Moses goes on to remind the Israelites of their eating laws with animals that chew the cud and divided hoofs (bull, goat, sheep etc.) being classified as clean and fine for eating, whereas animals that don't have both these features (camel, rabbit, pig and coney etc.) were taboo.

As regards water creatures the defining factors of cleanliness was that they should have scales and fins. Those without were not to be eaten.

Flying creatures were deemed edible other than kites, falcons, vultures, owls, hawks and bats. Flying insects that swarm should not be eaten, and nothing found dead could be eaten. 

Finally in this section for the third time (Exodus 23:19 & 34:26) in the law cooking a young goat in it mother's milk is banned. It is strange to see this emphasis and many think this is because it was something carried out in pagan rituals.

The chapter's final section focuses on the tithing of the Israelites annual produce. Such tithes were used for the upkeep of feasts, the upkeep of the Levites and to help orphans, widows and foreigners. 

Deuteronomy 13 (résumé): Worshipping other gods

Moses continues now to warn against idolatry. First he says that if any prophet or dreamer arises enticing the Israelites to worship other gods then they must realize that this is in fact God testing them and they must execute the offender. 

Then Moses says that even if someone really close to you tries to secretly entice you to paganism they must be executed without pity. It doesn't matter if it is your brother, son, daughter, wife or best friend. Whoever it is must be stoned to death.

In the case of a conquered town turning to idolatry Moses says they must totally destroy the town killing all its inhabitants and livestock. Then they must set fire to the town and its plunder in the town square as a burnt offering to God.

Veterinary Doctor

My daughter Deborah is a veterinary doctor as well as a teacher of English at the Cultura Inglesa Patos. She is very good in both. Deborah is a voluntary veterinary doctor with the Amparar Animal in Patos which takes stray & other dogs to the Municipal Dog Programme which has already sterilized 3,700 dogs. It is a step in the right direction to solve the chronic situation of stray dogs in Patos.

My lawyer, Dr. Arthur Ivan Medcraft Dutra, is in the process of investigating the lack of snake antidote here in Patos. It is a situation which cannot continue. A poor little 6-year-old girl ended up in intensive care in Patos because she was bitten by a Rattlesnake and there was no antidote in Patos. Helloá is threatened by bad side-effects as a result of the delay in taking the antidote which was only available in Itaporanga 111 km west of Patos! I am glad to tell you that Helloá has now been sent home from hospital and is improving which is a real answer to prayer.

QPR beat Blackburn at home 2 x 1 this week. 😀

On Wednesday afternoon Liz and I went to visit Dr. Fred and Marileide who live on a farm near Green Pastures. They are Christians attending our Green Pastures church and they will be baptized at the Carnival Camp together with Julio and Joana. Also present at the meeting was Michaele. We enjoyed a lovely time of fellowship with them. I heard a Rufous-bellied Thrush which they had caged unfortunately. I also saw a Green-barred Woodpecker.

Yesterday afternoon I had a good meeting with Pastor Rafael and his wife Rayla discussing the married couples ministry.  

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study. Dedé led the praise, Vasti sang a solo and Pastor Rafael gave the study on Micah 1:8-10. It was a nice service with a good number present.

Deuteronomy 12 (résumé): The one place of Worship

Moses now says that upon entering Canaan Israel must completely destroy the incumbent places of pagan worship, destroying their altars and burning their poles to the goddess Asherah. Israel must refrain from any involvement with pagan cults and must not even copy any aspects of their rituals. 

When the Israelites live in Canaan God will choose a city to be the central and exclusive place of worship and sacrifice. In the meantime Moses says that they will be able to slaughter animals, other that through the priests, and eat meat but never blood.

However Moses re-emphasized that the Israelites had to steer completely clear of any trace of pagan religious practices and philosophies as these involved "detestable things the Lord hates" with people even involved in human sacrifices of their children!   

Deuteronomy 11 (résumé): Love & Obey the Lord

This is another chapter in which Moses reminds the Israelites of the past to prepare them for the future in the promised land. He tells them to teach everything to their children as they had not experienced God's multiple miracles like at the Red Sea or when the earth swallowed up Dathan, Abiram and their families. Moses stressed that the people must love God and keep his commands. He says that they will live long and blessed in Canaan if they are loyal to God.  For God will send them abundant rain for their crops and cattle if they are faithful, but if they are not then God will withhold the rain. Moses says that they should fix his advice in their hearts, tie it on their hands and bind it on the foreheads because they must love God, walk in his ways and hold fast to him. If they do this they will conquer the land in the strength of the Lord.

Moses says that he is setting a blessing and a curse before them. The blessing will be assured if they obey God and the curse will come if they disobey. He says they should pronounce the blessings from Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal. 

Deuteronomy 10 (résumé): Fear the Lord

 Moses in this chapter continues to prepare the Israelites for their entrance into Canaan by reminding them of their past errors which must not be repeated. He reminds them how God in his mercy replaced the stone tablets with the law after the original ones were smashed as a reaction to the golden calf episode. He remembered too how God had set aside the Levites to minister and pronounce blessings on them in his name.

Moses stresses that the Israelites must always fear the Lord, walk in his ways, love him and serve him with all their heart and soul. He says that they must circumcise their hearts and not be stiff necked as regards the God of gods and Lord of lords, who defends the fatherless and the widow and loves the alien. He reminds Israel how they started out as just 70 when they went down to Egypt but God had made them "as numerous as the stars in the sky."

Granddaughters

I am glad to report that our 9-year-old granddaughter Amanda is finally on the mend in her health. Thank you for praying. She had 2 visits to the hospital to go on a drip for dehydration but now she is getting back to normal. And our 17-year-old granddaughter Alice has just started her university course in Psychology this week. Please pray for her too. 

Please pray for the little 6-year-old girl called Helloá who was bitten by a rattlesnake. Sadly it took a long time to give her the antidote as they had run out here in Patos and the nearest place which had it was Itaporanga. Now the doctors fear the child will be left with side effects as her eye sight is strange, and blood tests show something wrong with her kidneys too.

Liz was involved in a long counselling session yesterday about a very delicate subject I can't go into here.

Deuteronomy 9 (résumé): Not because of Israel's Righteousness

Moses went on to tell Israel that upon crossing the Jordan God will give the victory despite the strength of the opposing armies and warriors. The Israelites will drive out the incumbent people and annihilate them. But Israel should be careful not to think that their victories are because of their own righteousness. God will give the victory to Israel because of the incumbent nations' wickedness and because of his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Moses then goes on to remind the Israelites of two classic examples of their stiff-necked rebellious attitudes to God. First of all the case of the creation of a golden calf idol when Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God. Just because Moses took a long time the people slipped into rebellious idolatry. (Exodus 32) In the second place was the case of Israel abandoning faith in God and becoming despaired at the negative reports by the majority of spies sent into Canaan. (Numbers 13 and 14) In both these cases God was tremendously angry and was about to destroy the Israelites, had Moses not fervently interceded for forgiveness from God.  Thus Moses reminded Israel of their weaknesses which could not be repeated in Canaan. 

Deuteronomy 8 (résumé): Do not forget the Lord

 Moses now goes on to remind Israel how God had guided them in the desert, humbled them, tested them and fed them with manna so that they might realize that "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." During 40 years the people's clothes never wore out!

So the Israelites must observe the commands of the Lord because he is bringing them into a land with abundant water, full of wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey so that they "will lack nothing." But the people must be careful not to forget the Lord in their plenty. Moses says that they must remember that all they have with nice houses, herds and flocks has come from God. For if the people forget God the Lord will destroy them.

Training Course

On Saturday we held a training course on child evangelism for our Sunday School teachers and our regular school teachers in Patos. The course was taught by Pastor Beto, Sister Geneci and team from Londrina in the south of Brazil. I also had a lovely meeting with Pastor Beto, Pastor Lindon Carlos and Geneci. The course was also administered at our Matureia, Imaculada, Princesa Isabel, Vazante e Diamante churches. 

A little 6-year-old girl in Patos has been bitten by a Rattlesnake and is in the Children's hospital receiving treatment in intensive care. She is the niece of Jordânia who is a member of our church. Please pray!

Saturday night's service at Green Pastures was a real blessing. A good number were present. I led and preached. Nega and Vilene led the worship. The folk there sang happy birthday to me. It was lovely. 

35-year-old Hugo Motta from Patos has been elected as the president of the Brazilian national congress's lower house of federal deputies. As far as I know it is the highest national political post that someone from Patos has ever earned.

I led the main service of the week yesterday and Pastor Rafael preached. The church kindly gave me gifts for my birthday (a pair of jeans, a shirt and pyjamas). It was a blessed communion service.      

Deuteronomy 7 (résumé): Driving out the Nations

The culture at this time was one of 'kill, conquer and plunder' which stretches our understanding.

God now tells the Israelites to massacre the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites to possess the promised land. They are to show no mercy, are to kill everyone, and are to destroy all their cultural symbols such as their altars, idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. They are not to inter-marry with the inhabitants of the promised land. 

The text says that this invasion of Canaan is in keeping with God's covenant with the Israelites' forefathers which he calls "a covenant of love" which will bring them great blessing as long they "follow the commands, decrees and laws" of God. God tells Israel not to fear the fact that the peoples they will drive out are stronger than them as he will give them victory bit by bit. However they were not to keep the silver and gold from the idols as it was "detestable".     

Flycatcher

I have just seen a little yellow and black Common Tody-Flycatcher in the creeper outside our kitchen window where I was having my breakfast. I also saw some baby House Sparrows on the garden wall.

Yesterday I went to Green Pastures and saw and heard the following birds: Striped Cuckoo, Pigmy Nightjar, Caatinga Cacholote, Campo Troupial and White-tipped Dove.

Geraldo, whom we visited a few days ago who has cancer, is very happy that since we prayed for him he has been sleeping better and he is feeling stronger and eating more. His wife Linda phoned Liz to tell us. Please pray for Geraldo.

My co-pastor Rafael and his wife Rayla are on holiday in João Pessoa having a well-deserved break. Please pray for them.

This blog had 3,386 visits and reads last month. May God bless all the readers.

We had 166 mm of rain at Green Pastures in January. Thank you for your prayers, and please keep praying! 🙏We need 1,000 mm in the rainy season, between now and May, to get us through the year.

I have just taken part in an excellent EAB Board Meeting online. The meeting was held at Neil and Naomi Parson's house at West Wellow.

Walk in the way of the Lord

What beautiful words are these from Deuteronomy 5:32-33. "Be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess."

Today is my birthday and I have so much to thank God for all his blessings to me, my wife and family. It is a joy to continue in the work of the Lord enjoying health, strength and fruitful ministry. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Last night I led the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study and I gave the Bible study on 'John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus' from John 1:19-34 and John 3:22-36. Vasti and Espedita sang solos, Erika, Rogério and Netinho led the worship, and Deborah Maria, Dedé, Erika and Espedita brought Bible verses. We also had a good time of prayer. It was a lovely service.

Deuteronomy 6 (résumé): Love the Lord your God

In this chapter the preparations continue for the Israelites to cross the Jordan and possess the promised land of Canaan, stressing that their priorities must be love for God and obedience to his commandments. These key factors of love and obedience must be instilled in the children Moses says. Deuteronomy 6 is an important text as it contains the Jewish confession of faith known as the Shema. 

Moses declares that the people must love the Lord, their God, with all their hearts, souls and strength. Moses says that people must impress this on their children and that everyone should imbibe this in their hearts. People should always talk about this wherever they go and should surround themselves with this conviction and commitment. 

Moses also stresses that everyone must be careful to not forget God once they are installed in cities they did not build and have vineyards and olive groves they did not plant. Moses continues that they must keep clear of other gods and they must do what is right and good in the Lord's sight.

Then when the children ask why so many laws and decrees the parents should recount all that God had done for Israel leading to their commitment and covenant with him.  

Deuteronomy 5 (résumé): The 10 Commandments

Moses now reminded the Israelites of the 10 commandments: 1. Do not make idols. 2. Do not worship other gods. 3. Do not use the name of the Lord in vain. 4. Observe the Sabbath. 5. Honour your father and mother. 6. Do not commit murder. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Do not steal. 9. Do not lie. 10. Do not covet that which belongs to your neighbour. 

Moses then reminded Israel about all the extraordinary circumstances when God gave him the 10 commandments on tablets of stone and how the elders heard the voice of God and were afraid. The elders had asked Moses to spare them hearing God's terrifying voice, preferring for Moses to hear from God privately and pass it on to them. But now Moses was reminding Israel of all this just prior to them entering Canaan. Above all else the Israelites had to obey God.